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Ned
Lebow on Drivers of War, Cultural Theory, and IR of Foxes and Hedgehogs









Drawing
on classical political theories, International Relations is dominated by
theories that presuppose interests or fear as dominant drivers for foreign
policy. Richard Ned Lebow looks further back into the history of ideas to conjure up a
more varied set of drives that underpin political action. In this Talk, Lebow, among others, elaborates on
the underpinnings of political action, discusses how war drives innovations in
IR theorizing in the 20th century, and likens himself to a fox,
rather than a hedgehog.





Print version of this Talk (pdf)








What
is, according to you, the biggest challenge / principal debate in current IR?
What is your position or answer to this challenge / in this debate?







Well, the big challenge in international politics is always
how do we keep from destroying one another and that's the negative question.
But it is mirrored by a positive question which is, how do we build community
and tolerance and peace? And that's not exactly the flip side, but that's
always been the big question in IR. And part of that, I think, is how we learn
to manage threatening change. Because in my perspective, that's the driving
force of conflict: ultimately, both World Wars can be attributed to
modernization and its destabilizing consequences. That is also the reason why
it is a falsehood to base theory on that little select slice of history during
the World Wars, extrapolate it, and try to think its universal. Yet that is
what IR theory does: so many theorists, and so many of the people you recently
interviewed, are guilty of doing that. So that's the big question and
certainly, that's what drove me to study IR in the hope that I could make some
small contribution to figuring out some of the answers or partial answers to
these questions.







If we turn to what the central debate should be in
International Theory, well, I would frame this in two parts: the first should
be 'what are the different ways in which we can conceive of international
theory and how, by all of us pursuing it the way we feel comfortable with, we
can enrich the field without throwing bric-a-brac at each other and find ways
of learning from each other?'







A few years ago, I edited a book with Mark Lichbach (Theory and Evidence in Comparative Politics
and International Relations) as a rejoinder to King, Keohane and Verba's
book, which we found deeply offensive. It has the narrowest framework and then
they base their understanding on the Vienna school yet they seem to have forgotten
that Hempel and Popper would disavow the positions that King, Keohane and Verba
(KKV) are anchoring themselves in as epistemologically primitive. And the very
examples they give to illustrate 'good science'—Alvarez and his groupaddressing the problem of dinosaur extinction—they fail to see that what
these people did was in fact code on the dependent variable, which is the big
no-no for KKV! And the reason why Alvarez et al were taken seriously, was not because they went through the order
of research that KKV promoted, but rather because they came up with an
explanation for a phenomenon that people have long known about—yet explanations
don't figure at all in KKV's take; they had no interest in mechanisms, it was
all narrow correlations. It's absurd! So we edited the book, and we invited
people who represented different perspectives, but all of whom had evidence and
struggled to make sense of the evidence, to talk to one another and to look at
the problems they themselves find in their positions and how one could learn
broadly from considering this. That's the kind of debate that seems to me is a
useful one. Not who is right or wrong, but how can we learn collectively. And
secondly, I think maybe we need fewer debates, and more good research.











How did you arrive
at where you currently are in your thinking about IR?







I suppose it's a combination of people, books, and events, and
being a dog that constantly gnaws on bones and works it through. Very clearly the
Second World War and the Cold War were what brought me to the study of IR. I'm sure
in their absence, considering the counterfactual, I would have gone into Astrophysics,
which was the other field that really interested me.







I think the first concrete influence was as an undergraduate
and then as a graduate, being struck by certain individuals whose minds seemed
to sparkle; and I admired them for that and they became role models. And I
would make myself, intellectually, a little Hans Morgenthau, a little Karl
Deutsch; see the world through their eyes, and play with it. I never really wanted
to make myself into them, but rather to benefit by seeing what the world was
like when seen through their eyes. So in this sense, let me go back and draw on
Boswell, Hughes, and Mill for my answer. They all conceived of identity as
something that's a process of self-fashioning in which we mix and match the
characteristics that we observe in other people. And the purpose of society is
to throw up these role models and provide interaction with them so that we can
constantly be engaging in self-fashioning. And ultimately, we create something
that's novel that other people want to emulate or reject, as the case may be.
And I think that mixing and matching, and ultimately creating a synthesis of my
own, I developed my own approach to things.







The second element of this is to pick problems that engage
me, and stick with them. My first book in IR was about international crises and
I worked on this, it must have been 8, possibly even 9 years. I started out initially
convinced that deterrence theory made sense but wouldn't fit the historical evidence. Then one day, while
playing around, I realized the theory was wrong and by reversing it, I could
understand why it didn't work and see there were very different dynamics at
play. So working on a problem constantly and going back and forth between
theory and empirical findings, you gradually develop your own sense of the
field.







It also helps, over the course of an intellectual lifetime, to
work on different kinds of problems: I've just finished a book on the politics
and ethics of identity; I finished a manuscript up for review on the nature of
causation and different takes on cause; and the previous two books were on
counterfactuals and the origins of war. And I learned something theoretically
and methodologically by throwing myself into these problems and also, in some
cases, by going beyond what one would normally consider the domain of IR to look
for answers. I've often done philosophy and literature in the identity book. I
also go to musical texts: I have a reading of the Mozart Da Ponte Operas as a deliberate
thought experiment to test out ancient regime
and enlightenment identities under varying circumstances to expose what's wrong
with them and to work toward a better approach of Così fantutte. And I
read the music, not only the libretti,
to get at an answer. Of course, when you've been doing it a long time, it keeps
you alive and alert when you look at something new. I'm just finishing my 46th
year of University teaching. It's a long time!







Thirdly, there were a few pivotal books. I read George
Orwell's 1984 and Aldous Huxley's Brave New World in the early 50s. Both
of those were very powerful books. I also read in about 1950 - Life Magazine
produced a large volume on WWII and it had fabulous photographs and of course
Life was famous, Robert Capa's photographs, and
the text by John Dos Passos. A big big book that I read and re-read and that
was a powerful influence on me. I'd say the Diary of Anne Frank, when it came
out, which was not all that dissimilar but had a different ending from my own
war experience, and then in high school I read, or struggled to read—I don't
think I understood it—Ideology and Utopia
(full text here) by Karl
Mannheim, and then I read Politics among
Nations and the Twenty Year's Crisis.
And both those books made enormous sense to me at the time. But I think the
book that over the course of my lifetime has had the most influence on me of
anything is Thucydides' The History of
the Peloponnesian War (read full text here).











What would a
student need to become a specialist in IR or understand the world in a global
way?







I am tempted to give you a flippant answer that an expert is
somebody from out of town; what used to be with slides would now be with a PowerPoint
presentation. I think frankly you need to do two things: you need to be
analytically sophisticated and original on the one hand, but to do it well, you
have to have an empirical base. There has to be some problem or set of problems
that you've rolled up your sleeves, looked at the data, talk to the people who
are on the ground doing these things, and you need to go back and forth between
that empirical knowledge and conceptual one. That's success as a social scientist. 







And traditionally, there's
always been another key. You must have one foot in society in which you belong
and another foot outside so you can do it as an outsider as well as an insider.
That's terribly important. I think, in this sense, that Americans are more
parochial than other people. They are good insiders but they are not very good
outsiders and they just don't understand the rest of the world and when you
read what they write about the rest of the world, you wonder what planet they
are living on. If you don't see the rest of the world, you can't look at the
America from another perspective. It's like people who take hegemony seriously;
it's like believing in Santa Claus, except Santa Claus is benign. To gain a
deep experience of the world in itself is a pre-requisite. Do a year abroad in
some other culture. Learn a language. Have a relationship with someone from a
different culture—you begin to learn the languages and all the rest will come.
That's the way to start.











You are
most famous to most people for your Cultural
Theory of International Relations (2008). What does it comprise and can you
say something about its classical roots?







I return to classical theory of conflict and cooperation
because I find that in modern theory, all drives of human action have been
reduced to appetite, and reason to mere instrumentality. The Greeks, by
contrast, believed there were several fundamental drives—drives that affected
politics—and while these included appetite, they weren't just appetite. Reason was more than instrumentality; it also had
the goal of understanding what led to a happy life; then, next to reason and
appetite, the third drive was spirit or self-esteem (the Greek thumos), which is very different and
often opposed to appetite. It is about winning the approbation of others to
feel good about ourselves. The difference between honor and standing—two
variants of self-esteem—is that honor is status achieved within a fixed set of
rules, while standing is whenever you achieve status by whatever means.







Now most existing IR theories are either only built on
appetites—as liberalism and Marxism—or fear. And for the Greeks fear is not a
human drive but a powerful emotion which can become a motive. And when reason
loses control over either appetite or spirit, people begin to worry about their
own ability to satisfy their appetites, their spirit, or even protect
themselves physically. That's when fear becomes a powerful motive. Realism is
of course the paradigm developed around fear. I differ in that my theory
recognizes multiple motives, that are active to varying degrees at different
times. They don't blend the way a solution does in chemistry, but they retain
their own characteristics, even if jumbled together. So my theory expects to
see quite diverse and often conflicting behavior, whereas other theories only
pay attention to state behavior that seems to support their theory, and feel
the need to explain away other behavior inconsistent with their theory. I revel
in these variations. Second, I vary in describing what derives from these
motives as (Weberian) ideal types—which means, something you don't encounter in
the real world, but rather, an abstraction, a fictional or analytical
description, that helps to make sense of the real world but never maps onto it
exactly. So, a fear-based world gives you a very nice description of a
foundation of anarchy. But of course this is an ideal-type world. Fear is only
one motive. You have go to a place where civil order has broken down, like
Somalia or the trenches in WWII, to see fear-based models compete.







Starting from these three motives and the emotion of fear, I
argue that each of these generates a very different logic of cooperation,
conflict and risk-taking; and each is associated with a different kind of
hierarchy. And all of them except fear rely on a different principle of
justice. Just to give an example: for actors—whether individuals or
states—driven by self-esteem, they tend to be risk prone (because honor has to
be won by successfully overcoming ordeals and challenges); it leads to a
conflictual logic because you are competing with others for honor; and it can
be rule-based (although the rules can brake down and move into fear); and the
principle is one of fairness, in contrast to interest or appetite which has a
principle of equality. The hierarchy is one of clientelism, where people honor
those at the top, which, in return, provides practical benefits for those on
the bottom. The Greeks called this hegemonia;
the Chinese had a similar system.







But because any actual system is not an ideal type, we have
to figure out what that mixture is and we can begin to understand foreign
policies. And I try to give numerous examples in the book. And the big turning
point, I argue, is modernity, where it becomes more difficult to untangle the
motives and their discourses. Because in modernity both Rousseau and Adam Smith
try to understand why we want material things, so the two become connected. You
could argue that even in Egyptian times they were connected, in the pyramids,
which are nothing if not erections of self-esteem. But it becomes more
difficult and so, rather than saying, using literary texts, artistic works and
political speeches as a way of determining the relationship, I approached the
problem differently with the examples of the World Wars, the Cold War, and the
Anglo-American Invasion of Iraq. I said let's run a test of seeing how
carefully we can explain the origins and the dynamics of these conflicts on the
basis of interest, on the basis of fear, on the basis of self-esteem. And I
think that's methodologically defensible.



Now the interesting point is that the honor or self-esteem
explanation is gone completely from modern IR explanations but does at least
just a good a job—if not better—at explaining these conflicts I mention above. There is an important sense—and this is my latest book—in which going to war was the dominant way to get recognized as a great power, and I feel that the example of the war in Iraq illustrates that that principle is on the retreat.







I obviously use Greek thinking as a source here of—again, I
wouldn't use the word knowledge—but as a source of insight into human nature
and the recurring problems regardless of society. Some of the great writers and
thinkers cannot be surpassed as sources of knowledge that we as social
scientists are shadows on the cave by comparison. And I find the Greeks
particularly interesting for several reasons. One, they had a richer
understanding of the psyche that moderns who have adduced everything to appetite
and reason to a mere instrumentality, this is, to me, an incredibly narrow,
crude way of thinking of the human mind. And, for whatever reason, they were
gifted with tragedians who pierced to the core of things. So I find them as a
source of inspiration but it's by no way limited to the Greeks. You can pick
great authors from any culture, in any century, and read them and learn a lot.











How
should we understand your cultural theory of international relations in
relation to the 'big' paradigms?







My theory is constructivist, at every level. I can go even further and claim that my theory is
the only constructivist theory.
Alexander Wendt is not a constructivist. If anything, he's a structural
liberal. It did have preexisting identities and has a teleology as he believes
a Kantian world is inevitable— that's quite a statement to make! And I hope
he's right. On the other hand, I define constructivists in a broader way. Most
constructivists start with identities and identities are certainly an important
feature of my work, but my theory rests on a different premise, and that is the
notion of there being certain core values which are germane to politics, and
they vary in relative importance from society to society, and they find
expression in different ways. So it is constructivist, I think, in the Weberian
sense: we have to understand from within the culture what makes things
meaningful. And, in that sense, you could bring in the notion of
inter-subjective reality, but I go beyond it, because other values are always
present in this mix and therefore there's behavior that appears contradictory
that is often misunderstood if you apply the wrong lens to it. So there's a
lack of interdisciplinary understanding as well: you have to look at both to
see how the world works. So cultural theory is constructivist and it allows us
to reframe and expand what constructivism means.







If I apply this constructivist thinking to one of the core
principles in our approach to world politics: what is a cause? I start by
asking, what does 'cause' mean, in physics? Why physics? Because physics is
always the field that political scientists look at, we have 'physics envy', so
to speak. And interestingly, in physics, there is no consensus about what cause
means. Some physicists think that very notion of cause is unhelpful to what
they do. Others are happy with regularities and subscribe to causal thinking. Still
others thing that you need to have mechanisms to explain anything. Still others,
and here statistical mechanics can be taken as a case in point, invoke Kantian
understandings of cause. Within physics there's no argument between people
adhering to these different understandings of 'cause', because you should do
what works! They don't criticize one another. So if they have this diversity,
why shouldn't we? Why shouldn't we develop understandings of cause that are
most appropriate to what we do? So I develop an understanding I call 'inefficient
causation' (download full paper here),
sort of playing off of Aristotle. And it is a constructivist understanding, but
it also incorporates elements that are distinctively non-constructivist. And
identities are only a small piece of the puzzle.











Is
there any sense to make of the way IR has evolved over the 20th
century?







I think if you look at some of the central figures, it's
quite easy. There are 2 great cohorts of International Relations theorists.
Those born in the early years of the 20th century comprise Hans
Morgenthau, John Hertz, E.H. Carr, Harold Lasswell, Nicholas Spykman, Frederick Schuman, and Karl Deutsch—who was
on my dissertation committee together with Isaiah Berlin and John Hertz. The
second cohort is born between about 1939 and 1945, and it comprises Robert
Jervis (Theory Talk #12), Joseph Nye
(Theory Talk #7), Robert Keohane (Theory Talk #9), Oren Young, Peter
Katzenstein (Theory Talk #15), Stephen Krasner (Theory Talk#21), Janice Steinberg… And I'll tell you what I think the reasons are for
these groups to emerge at these particular moments: the first cohort lived
through World War I. And did so, fortunately, in at an age where they were too
young to be combatants for the most part, but they certainly had to deal
intellectually and personally with its consequences and then watch the horrors
unfold of the 1930s.







And the second, my own, cohort was born at the outset of the
Second World War. I think, in that group, I may be the only one of them born in
Europe (France). The rest of them were born in the US. And we came of age
during the most acute crisis of the cohort. So I was either in university or
graduate school during the Berlin crisis, during the Cuba crisis, and certainly
had an interest first in the consequences of WWII and how something like this
could happen, and then living through the horrors of the Cold War, not knowing
if indeed one would live through
them. And that created a very strong incentive and focus for our group of
people. Now a surprising number of this second group did their graduate studies
at Yale: Janice Stein, I, Oren Young, Bruce Russet, Krasner, later all at Yale
with Karl Deutsch. The rest, Jervis, Keohane and Krasner at Harvard with Samuel
Huntington. I think you have the odd person who's born somewhere in between –
so, Ken Waltz (Theory Talk #40), for
instance, is younger. He must be a 1920 person, almost exactly in between these
two, just as Ernst Haas.







And I wouldn't be surprised now if there is another cohort
emerging, the people of around the age of Stefano Guzinni, Jens Bartelson,
Patrick Jackson (Theory Talk #44).
What ties this third cohort together is that they all watched the end of the
Cold War and are coping with its aftermath. So I believe that it's probably two
things: the external environment and the extent to which you're in an
intellectually nurturing institution. And of course for our cohort, it
certainly helped that there were jobs. That was not true of the earlier cohort.
Almost all of them, except E.H. Carr, ended up in the US as refugees. Did you
know Morgenthau started as an elevator boy in New York? Then he got a job
teaching part-time at Brooklyn College because someone fell ill. His wife
cleaned other people's apartments to supplement their income. Then he got a job
at the University of Kansas City, which was a hellhole, and finally Harold
Lasswell got called to Washington for some war work and got Chicago to hire
Morgenthau to replace him.











What is
the issue with the discipline today if, as you noted before, we fail to ask the
most interesting questions and instead focus on method?







Well, it of course depends on which side of the pond you
sit. On the American side of the pond, positivist or game-theoretical
behaviorist or rationalist modeling approaches dominate the literature; it's
just silly, from my perspective. It's based on assumptions which bear no
relationship to the real world. People like it because it's intellectually
elegant: they don't have to learn any languages, they don't have to read any
history, and they can pretend they're scientists discussing universals.
Intellectually, it's ridiculous. Bruce Bueno de Mesquita (Theory Talk #31) is a classic case in point. He's made a huge
reputation for himself with The War Trap (1981).
That book and the corresponding theory are based on a simple assumption,
namely, that there's a war trap compelling states into war, because initiators
win wars. But just look at the empirical record from 1945 to the present—initiators
lose between 80-90% of the wars they start. And that really depends on the
definition of victory. If you use the real definition, the Clausewitzian one,
you have to ask: do they achieve their political goals through violence? Then
the answer is, even fewer "victories". Well, let's cut them some slack, use a
more relaxed definition: did they beat the other side militarily? Initiators
still lose 78 or 82%—I forget exactly which percentage of their wars. And the
profession right now is so ignorant of history that nobody said 'Wait a
minute!' the day the book came out. Instead IR scholars all focus on this model
and fine-tuning it—it's ridiculous! And well, I don't want to go on with a
critique, but this is a serious problem, for it concerns a huge
misunderstanding regarding one of the most important problems out there.







But what happens now is this kind of thinking metastasizes
throughout the discipline because what students in International Relations or
Political Science more generally are taught are calculus, statistics—and I'm
not against this, one should learn them; I use them myself when I wear my
psychologist hat and do quantitative research and statistical analysis—but they
don't learn languages, they don't learn history, they don't learn philosophy.
They are so narrow! Much of this of course has to do with the reward structure
in the United States. It's clear that the statistical scientists are at the top
of the hill. So, economists transform themselves into scientists; but the
social scientists copy them because there are clear institutional rewards. If
you look at our salaries in comparison to the salaries of anthropologists,
historians—then if you sit at the edge of your chair and look over the abyss
you might see the humanists down there in terms of what they get. So very
clearly, there are strong institutional rewards. Once the positivist crowd got
a lock on various foundations and journals, if you want a job, if you want to
rise up through the profession, students tell me you have to do this stuff. IR
graduate students are bricklayers that get turned out of these universities.
That's the tragedy! It's no longer a serious intellectual enterprise. It's not
connected to anything terribly meaningful.







And mind you, I must say, while on the other, European, side
of the pond there is more diversity (one of the reasons I feel more comfortable
here), at the same time there is a strong tendency to go for a certain
heavy-handed brand of post-modernism. If you don't start an article with a
genuflection to Foucault or De Saussure or Derrida, you don't get published.
And by not looking beyond these 20th century thinkers, people in
Europe are often given credit for inventing things which were common knowledge
for hundreds and hundreds of years. Utterly ridiculous. But in between, there
are of course people who are trying to make sense of the world, including many
people in the positivist tradition who are doing good quantitative research and
trying to address serious problems in the world. The difficulty is that these
two extremes are often people who approach IR as a religion and they think that
their way of doing research is the only way
and they have no respect for others. And that's a kind of arrogance to which,
to me, is a violation of what the university is all about.







Ultimately, what is good theory? One approach would be to
say that a good theory is one that appears to order a domain in a way that is
conceptually rigorous - to the extent that that's even possible - that is
original and that raises a series of interesting questions which haven't been
asked before, but which are amenable to empirical research and finally it
should have normative implications. This is what Hans Morgenthau meant when he
said that the purpose of IR theory is not to justify what policymakers did, but
to educate them to act in ways that would lead to a better and more peaceful
world. And that, I think, is the ultimate goal of IR theory that we should not
lose sight of.











You
indicated that Isaiah Berlin was on your dissertation committee. He famously
tries to explain Tolstoy's philosophy of history (in War and Peace) through the parable of the hedgehog and the fox. If
theorists constraining themselves to one drive underpinning policy choices
would be hedgehogs, how would you see yourself? A fox or a hedgehog?







I am clearly a fox! I do different things. Whether I do them
well is debatable. But I certainly think that I'm a man of many tricks. Of
course the distinction also implies not believing in an overarching truth, and
indeed, I try hard not to think about truth because I don't think you can get
very far when you do. Epistemologically and eclectically, I'm a great believer
that we can never really establish a cause, truth, and knowledge. One of the
great problems here goes back to Plato who was shocked that craftsmen equated
technical ability to produce things with knowledge—Sofia, which is wisdom. And
today you have the problem one step up, so another category of knowledge for
the Greeks was episteme. Aristotle
would describe it as 'conceptual knowledge' or that which might even be
represented mathematically. And the people who would be 'expert' in episteme
think they have sofia and their claim
to being a hedgehog is the same kind of conceit, a form of hubris. Berlin's
distinction between hedgehogs and foxes is a very useful and nice concept to
play around with.







Yet it's a bit much to reduce Tolstoy to that tension. You
could do it as a game but it doesn't do much justice because there is so much
else in Tolstoy. He's tilting against the French historians of the 19th
century who have erected Napoleon into this strategic genius. And he does a
very convincing job of showing that what goes on on the battlefield has nothing
whatsoever to do with what Napoleon or anyone else who is wearing a general's
ebullience or theorists hat says. And also, and in this sense, one could see
him as the beginning of subaltern history of social science, he's telling the
story—admittedly about aristocrats, not commoners—but he's telling the story of
ordinary people on the battlefield, not the people making the decisions. So the
war is in a way a background to the lives of the people, focusing our attention
a very humanist way, on people. This, too, is revolutionary for his time.















Professor
Richard Ned Lebow Professor of International Political Theory at the Department
of War Studies, King's College London and James O. Freedman Presidential
Professor Emeritus at Dartmouth College. He is also a Bye-Fellow of
Pembroke College, University of Cambridge. He has taught strategy and the
National and Naval War Colleges and served as a scholar-in-residence in the
Central Intelligence Agency during the Carter administration. He has
authored and edited 28 books and nearly 200 peer reviewed articles.















Related
links








Read the
first chapter of Lebow's The Tragic
Vision of Politics (2003) here (pdf) 
Read
Lebow & Kelly's Thucydides and
Hegemony: Athens and the United States (Review of International Studies
2001), here (pdf) 
Read
Lebow's Deterrence and Reassurance:
Lessons from the Cold War (Global Dialogue 2001) here (pdf) 
Read
Lebow's The Long Peace, the End of the
Cold War, and the Failure of Realism (International Organization, 1994)
here (pdf) 
Read
Lebow's The Cuban Missile Crisis: Reading
the Lessons Correctly (Political Science Quarterly 1983) here (pdf) 



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Issue 13.3 of the Review for Religious, 1954. ; A. M. D. G. Review for Religious MAY 15, i95.4 Pontificate of Pius X . , . . . J.P. Leonard Pray Reasonably . Joseph F. Gallen ¯ -Nature and Grace . : . Joseph P. Fisher New Little Office . o Adam C;.'Ellis Secular Institutes . . . Fr,~ncis N. K~orfh ¯ Father Larraona:s Golcl~n "Jubilee Questions and Answers ~ .~ Book Reviews News and Views ~ VOLUM~ Xlll,' NUMBER 3 VOLUME XIII MAY, 1954 NUMBnR 3 CONTENTS FATHER LARRAONA'S GOLDEN JUBILEE .1.1.3. THE PONTIFICATE OF PIUS X~ ~ Most Reverend d. P. Leonard, 8.J . 114 BI[,ESSED PlUS X--SOME D.ATES . 124 OUR CONTRIBUTORS . 124 PRAY REASONABLY--Joseph F. Gallen, S.d . 125 NEWS AND VIEWS-- Pius X; Adaptation and Prayer: Silver Jubilee; Congress in Canada; Summer Sessions; Institute of Spirituality . 137 NATURE AND GRACE--Joseph P. Fisher, S.J .142 NEW REVIEW OF SPIRITUALITY . 148 NEW EDITION OF THE LITTLE OFFICE--Adam C. Ellis, S.J. 149 MORE ABOUT SECULAR INSTITUTES--Francis N. Korth, S.J. 153 PLENARY INDULGENCE FOR SEVEN SORROWS BEADS 159 BOOK REVIEW (Nature and Grace). . . 160 BOOKS ABOUT MARY . 160 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS . 161 MARIAN YEAR PLAY . 165 NOTICE FOR PUBLISHERS . 165 "QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS-- 16. Form of Address for Sisters . 166 17. Bowing while Kneeling " 166 18.Duty of Delegate to Members Electing Him . 167 19. Cashing of Insurance Policy by Novice . ; 167 20. Tabernacle Veil for Benediction after Mass . 168 21. Flowers on Altar during Penitential Seasons . 168 PRAYER FOR SICK . " . 168 MORE INDEPEiklDENT AURELIANS . 168 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, May, 1954, Vol. XIII, No. 3. 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, under the act of March 3, 1879. Editorial Board: Augustine G. Ellard, S.J., Adam C. Ellis, S.J., Gerald Kelly, S.J., Francis N. Korth, S.J. Copyright, 1954, ,by Adam C. Ellis, S.J. Permission is hereby granted for quota-tions of reasonable length, provided due.credit be given this review and the author. Subscription price: 3 dollars a year; 50 cents a copy. Printed in U. S. A. Before writin9 to us, please consult notice on inside back cover. ON DECEMBER 8, 1953, the Most Reverend Father Arcadio Larraona, Secretary of tb~ Sacred Congregation of Religious, celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of his religious profession in the Congregation of the Missionary Sons of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (C.M.F.). Father L~irraona was born in Spanish Navarre, November 12, 1887. At the age of twelve be entered the apostolic school of the Claretian Missionaries at Alag6n, near Zaragoza. After completing his classical studies, he made his novitiate at Vich, in the Province of Barcelona, and pronounced his first religious vows on December 8, 1903. His philosophical and theological studies were made at the University of Cerv~era. He was ordained priest in Zaragoza~ in 1911. Not long after ordination be went to Rome to do post-graduate studies in canon law. He received the degree of Doctor Utriusque Juris (Doctor of both Civil and Canon Law). Several years later, in 1918, he succeeded Cardinal Massimi in the chair-of Roman Law on the Faculty of San Apollinare. He held this posi-tion for over thirty years. In 1920, together with Fathers Maroto and Goyeneche, he founded the Comrnentarium pro Religiosis. of which he is the chief editor today, and in which he continues to publish what will un-doubtedly become the most exhaustive commentary on the canons of the Code concerning religious ever attempted. For twenty-five years and more he has been attached to^ the Sacred Congregation of Religious--first, as Consultor;. then as Under Secretary; finally, as Secretary. He became Under Secretary, November 27, 1943. By an Apostolic Brief dated November 11, 1950, Pope Plus XII appointe~'d him Secretary. He has also served other Sacred Congregations of the Roman Curia and will be espe-cially remembered for the active part he took in the formulation of the Code of Canon Law for the Eastern Church. It was our privi; lege to have him preside over the First National Congress of Reli-gious in the United Sates, held at the University of Notre Dame, August 9-12, 1952. The editors and readers of REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS extend their best wishes to Father Larraona on this. happy occasion, and they ask Our Blessed Lady, during this Marian Year, to obtain for her faith-ful son an abundance of spiritual blessings. 113 The Pon :it:ic :e ot: Plus X Most ReverendJ. P. Leonard, S.J. .| F THERE IS ANYTHING that strikes us when studying Church | history it is the amazing fact that she has weathered the most fearful storms and survived attacks both from within and from without that should, normally have wrecked any institution, how-ever solidly egtablished. The secret lies in the'words of Our Blessed Lord to His apostles: "Behold, I am with you all days even until the consummation of the world . " With special cogency do these words of Christ apply to him whom He appointed head of the Apostolic College and invested with the supremacy of power, to Peter and his successors. "And the Lord si~id, 'Simon, Simon, be-hold Satan hath desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat: but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not; and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren' " (Luke 22:31-32). The meaning is plain: as the Church rests on the Papacy as .on an unshakable rock bed, so the Papacy itself derives its security and its strength from Christ the cornerstone. The history of the Church is the history of the Papacy. It is the Papacy that ensures her well-being and expansion, that wards off the blows which are leveled against her; it is the Papacy that fos-ters and promotes her many works, that organizes and directs her mission of teaching, of guiding, of sanctifying the souls redeemed by the precious blood of her Founder. It is the Papacy that steers the 15ark of Peter over dangerous seas and through lurching reefs. We find this verified in the splendid succession of Pontiffs who occupied the Chair of Peter during the past hundred years and not least in Pius X, who was beatified June 3, 1951. Many of this holy Pontiff's activities are apt to appeal to us in a particular manner as they bear directly on the pastoral ministry. Not that his action was restricted to matters of internal organization and parochial duties. Like his illustrious predecessor and his no less illustrious succes-sors in the Chair of Peter, he had to tackle all .the intricate ques-tions of the day, ,keeping his hand on the pulse of ailing humanity so as to ~uggest suitable remedies for the many ills of mankind. ~Still it is true to say that his greatest care always turned to the direct in-terests of the Church and to the realization of the program which hc outlined at the beginning of his reign, and which "he crystallized 114 THE PONTIFICATE OF PlUS X in'the motto: lnsta{tre omnia in Christo (Eph. 1:10)--"to renew all things in Christ." I. HI~ SOCIAL MESSAGE AND DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS That Pius X, for all his-absorbing solicitude fo~ the internal organization of the Church and the spiritual improvement of the Christian communities, nevertheless kept in close touch with the so-cial,' economic, and political trends bf his time, we gather from his wise ordinances in the field of social action and from his relations with governments. 1. Social Action Aware of the important contribution which Pope Leo XIII had made towards the solution of the Social Question and in full sympa~ thy with the principles laid down in the encyclical Return novarurn, ~Pius X pledged the fullcooperation of the Church to the establish-ment of a healthy social order. In a motu proprio dated Dec. 18, 1"903, he drew up a list of nineteen propositions,, collected from various encyclicals of Leo XIII, in which he pointed out the chief pitfalls to be avoided and the safe course to be followed. He had sensed dangerous leanings towards socialism and was keenly alive to the prevalence of a growing spirit of independence and insubordi-nation to ecclesiastical authority. Soon after, he dissolved the ex-isting Catholic welfare and social-reform organization of Italy, the Opera dei Congressi, and substituted a new organization aiming at eliminating the causes of friction and at creating an atmosphere con-ducive to a healthy social action. His encyclical II ferr, o proposito (June 11, 1905) outlined a scheme of "Catholic Action~' which Plus XI wasito develop later on. W~hat he achieved for Italy, he also tried to effect for FranCe, where the Sillon (the F,urrow)--a social movement avowedly Catholic in aim--was rallying the support of the more enthusiastic and enterprising among the French Catholics. The movement, however, showed signs of drifting into dangerous innovations. Pope Plus X ordered it to be reorganized under episcopal control ~Aug. 25, 1910). In Germany, where the Catholic minority was still fighting for its rights, the guilds and ~/olkst~erein were organized on a strong sociological basis. But the Pope had to warn them against an ex-cessive independence (encyclical Singulari quadam, Sept. 24, 1912, on Catholic and mixed labor organizations in Germany). Social Relief--The kindness and charity of Pius X were a 1-15 J. P. LEONARD Reuiew for Religious byword in Rome and throughout the world. Not content with greatly encouraging charitable institutions and relief organization-s in aid .of the destitute, he set a noble example. So great were his charities that people wondered where his funds were coming from. His sympathy and support were always on the side of the weak and the .oppressed. Witness his outspoken condemnation of the harsh treatment meted out to the Indian labor in the rubber planta-tions of Peru (cf. the encyclical Lamentabili statu, June 7, 1912.). When in 1908 the town of Messina was almost entirely destroyed by an earthquake of extraordinary violence, the Pope organized a relief commission and placed the home of Santa Martha by St. Pe-ter's at the disposal of the refugees. Calabria, too, experienced his outgoing charity during the great earthquake that visited that prov-ince. Seven million francs were collected and spent in works'of re-lief and reconstruction. Nor was the Pope's solicitude confined to Italy. Public misfortunes everywhere found him ever ready to step in with a generous donation. 2. Diplomatic Relations Plus X was a lover of peace and he had nothing more at heart than to secure harmony and collaboration between Church and State. The principle that guided his policy in his relations with governments was clearly set forth in an address to Argentine pil-grims to Rome: true to God and to the Church, the Catholics were pledged to loyal allegiance to the civil authorities so long as the rights of God and the liberties of the Church were not compromised. "The Church," he said, "will always defend the constituted au-thorities, imposing love, obedience, respect and observance of the laws, helping the State to provide for the maintenance of peace." But in many countries the Church had fallen on evil days, and Plus X was hard put to it to maintain cordial relations. The spo-liation of the Papal States was still relatively recent, demanding an attitude of aloofness and protest against the Italian Government. Pius X followed the policy of his predecessors, while cautiously exploring all the avenues to a reconciliation. By opportune repre- " sentations and by exerting his personal influence he succeeded in pre-venting a divorce bill and other irreligious legislation from going through the Italian Parliament. In.,Fran.ce the religious situation was particularly difficult. In 1901 the Law of Associations against religious orders and congre-gations resulted in thousands of religious men and women being 116 May, 1954 THE PONTIFICATE OF PlUS X compelled to go into exile and closing thousands of institutions. In 1904 the famous Combes at one blow closed more than 14,000 congregational schools. In 1905 the concordat of 1901 was denounced by the French Government and diplomatic relations with the Holy See were sun-dered. A decree of separation of Church and State was passed and an aggressive campaign against the Church was launched (cf. the encyclical Vel~emer~ter, Feb. 11, 1906). The question of ecclesiastical property became a thorny one. The Government proposed the establishment of what was termed cult.ual associatior~s. Though some leading Catholics were decidedly of.the opinion that the scheme might be given a trial, the Pope in consultation with the French episcopacy rejected it as uncanonical (encyclical Graoissirao ot~icii, Aug. 10, 1906). It was a severe blow as it deprived the French clergy of all State help and made them de-pendent on Catholic charity alone. But it had the advantage of freeing the Church from all State domination. Said Mgr. Gauthey, Bishop of Nevers: "Pius X at the cost of sacrificing our property emancipated us from slavery. May he be forever blessed for not shrinking from imposing that sacrifice on us!" Pius took advan-tage of the newly won freedom to consecrate over a score of bishops, filling all the vacant sees without any .reference to the Government. _Nor was the Government x}ery happy over the results of its tyran-nical onslaught on the Church. The firm attitude of Pius X caused it 'such embarrassments that after a period of twenty st6rmy years it agreed to another, and canonical, settlement for the administration of Church property. Portugal fol!owed the pattern of France. In 1910 a revolution broke out and a republican government of a strongly anticlerical bias took over. As a result, the religious congregations were ex-pelled and their property confiscated. The c6ncordat of 1886 was repudiate.d and a decree in favor of separation of Church and State was enacted. In neighboring Spain, too, trouble was brewing. But Latin America, on the whole, remained loyally attached to the Holy See. On the other hand, the new Government of Turkey sent an am-bassador to the Vatican and shortly before the outbreak of World War I a concordat was signed with .Serbia. Pius X had not been trained in diplomacy. What guided his outlook and policy was a deep understanding of the Church's mis- Sion and the consideration of the primacy of the spiritual over the J.P. LEONARD temporal. His direct way of dealing with critical situations may not have appealed to those who favored more subtle and round-about methods of approach, but it was not less effective, while the simplicity and affability of his manner were singularly impressive and disarming. On the other hand, his firmness sprang from a deep-rooted conviction that if God permitted trials to befall His Church, it was with a view to her ultimate good and greater free-dom. While trustingly biding his time and God's chosen 'hour ,he gave his unstinted attention and care to other tasks of a more con-genial nature. II. ORGANIZATION AND LIFE OF THE CHURCH 1. Pope Pius X's name is associated with important ecclesiastical reforms. The Roman Curia--His first care was to reorganize his own household and to improve the administrative machinery at the cen-ter. His Curia had to deal with an overwhelming mass of ecclesiJ astical material. To dispose of it expeditiously is an herculean task. Pope Plus X set about overhauling the complicated organization, introducing administrative changes which experience has proved to be very wise and effective (constitution Saplentl consilio. June 29, 1908). According to the reformed system, the work is judiciously distributed among twelve Congregations, three Tribufials, and five Offices, each with its personnel and its appointed task. To give but one example, up to the reign of Plus X such coun-tries as England, Ireland, the United States, Canada, and Holland had been under the jurisdiction of the S. Congregation of Propa-ganda. The Pope placed them under the jurisdiction of the Consis-torial Congregation, thus restricting the territorial domain of Propaganda and relieving it of a considerable amount of work. Roman Commissions--As early as March 19, 1904, Plus X appointed a special Commission under Mgr. Gasparri, later Car-dinal, as secretary, to codify canon law--an urgent and most diffi-cult task already recommended by the Vatican Council (motu pro-prio Arduum sane munus, March 19, 1904). The Pope watched the prodress of this great work with the liveliest interest. But he did not live to see the pr?mtilgation of the new Code (in 1917). He also reorganized the Biblical Commission, set up a commis-sion for the revision and correction of the Vulgate text of the Bible, and in 1909 founded the Biblical Institute for Scriptural studies. Another commission was entrusted with the revision of the brevidry. 118 May, 1954 THE PONTIFICATE OF PIUS X New Ecclesiastical Units--Nor was the Pope less concerned with the progress of the Church at large. During his tenure of office, Plus X created twenty-eight new dioceses, sixteen vicariates apostolic, and. fifteen prefectures apostolic. 2. But above all he directed his attention to matters of ecclesi-astical discipline, to promoting the liturgical and devotiona~ life of the Church and to Christian doctrine. " Training of the Clergy- As I~ishop, his chief care had been de-voted to the formation of the cler~gy. No wonder that as P~ope the functioning of the seminaries became the object of his constant so-licitude. Small and inefficient semin,aries were suppressed. Where necessary, r,egional seminaries were established. A new order of studies based oh that of the Roman seminary was promulgated, and bishops were exhorted to spare no pains in seeing that the candidates to the priesthood were properly trained in learning, ~iety, obedience, and zeal. His exhortatioh to the clergy all over the world gives ex-pression to his inmost desires and tender solicitude in this direction. It was published on the occasion of the 50tI~ anniversary of his own priestly ordination (Aug. 4, 1908). Full of affection and wise counsel it concludes with the words: "Reform of the priesthood is the~best gift that can be offered Us on the occasion of Our own sacer-dotal jubilee." Care for the lntegrit'g of the Faith--The purity,of the faith Pope Plus X cherished like! the apple of his eye. Aware of certain dangerous tendencies that threatened the objective and immutable character, of the Catholic teaching, he ~¢as loud in his denunciation and drastic in his condemnation. In the decree Larnentabili (July 3, 1907) he singled out .sixty-seven propositions for ecclesiastical censure. This syllabus was followed shortly afterwards by the en-cyclical Pascendi (Sept. 8, 1907) in which he dealt with modern-istic innovations, and laid down wise rules as to how to combat these pernicious doctrines. Among the means he advocated, he in-sisted particuiarly on the censorship of books and the creation of a "Committee of Vigilance." Subsequently, by the motu proprio Sacrorurn Antistitum (1910), he prescribed the oath against Mod-ernism. ' Solicitude /:or the Divine Worship--Anxious to preserve pure and intact the sacred deposit of faith and the traditional teaching of the Ch~urch, Pope Plus X was no less concerned with the honor of the house of God and the splendor of the liturgy. He earnestly de-sired that the liturgical functions should be a worthy manifestation 119 J. P. I~EON_ARD Review for Religious of faith and devotion. Lex orandi lex ~redendi. To that end he insisted that Church music should be in keeping with the decorum and respect due to divine worship~. As a parish priest, as Bishop of Mantua, and as Patriarch of Venice he had shown himself an ardent promoter of the Gregorian chant and had befriended and patronized the distinguished ~omposer Lorenzo Perosi. As Pope he published the Motu proprio on sacred music (Nov. 22, 1903) stating the general guiding principles of the Church and drawing up clear regu-lations. , "Sacred music," he wrote, "should possess in the highes~ degree the qualities proper to the liturgy, or, more precisely, sanctity and purity of form from which its other character of universality spon-taneously springs. It must be hold/, and must, therefore, exclude all profanity, not only from itself, but also, from the manner in which it is presented by those who execute it. It must be true art, for otherwise it cannot exercise on the minds of~ the hearers that in-fluence which the Church contemplates when she welcomes into her liturgy the art of music. But it must also be unfioersaI, in the sense that, while every nation is permitted to admit into i~s ecclesiastical compositions those special forms which may be said to constitute its native music, still these forms mustbe subordinated in such a man-ner to the general characteristics of sacred music that no one of any nation may receive any impression other than good on hearing them." S~ecial emphasis was laid on congregational singing. Says Plus X: "Special efforts are to be made to restore the use of the Gre-gorian chant by the people, so that the faithful may again take a more active part in ecclesiastical offices, as was the case in ancient times" (Motu proprio, n,. 3). The Motu proprio also directs that a commission be appointed by the Ordinary to watch over all musical performances. This papal ordinance served a useful purpose. It not only clearly deter-" mined the character of genuine Church music, but it recalled to the attention of the Catholic world the dignity and beauty of the liturgical services and impressed the minds of the faithful with a proper sense of what was due to the majesty of God and the sacred-ness of, His Temple. Devo6on, to the Holy Eucharist~Pius X has been rightly called the Pope of the Holy Eucharist. To combat the lingering in-fluence of Jansenism, he recommended the reception of frequent and even daily Communion. He relaxed the Eucharistic fast in favor of the sick so that they might receive holy Communion twice a month. Marl, 1954 THE PONTIFICATE OF PlUS X or oftener, though unable to.keep the fast. By the decree Quam singulari, dated Aug. 8, 19'10, he ruled that children should be ad-mitted to First Communion shortly after they have attained the age of discretion. What untold blessings for the young accrued from this bold and salutary innovation it is difficult to say. It was of the nature of a minor revolution in the training of the young and laid ¯ them under an everlasting obligation to the loving kindness of the Sovereign Pdntiff. It was at the express desire of Pope Plus X that the Eucharistic Congress of 1905 (the sixteenth) was held in Rome--an event of unprecedented grandeur which set the pace for yet greater develop-ments. As a fitting sequel to that memorable function the Pope pub-lished in December of the same year the decree Sacra Tridentina Synodus advising daily Communion. Devotion to Our Lady--Equally earnest ~vere the Pope's efforts to promote devotion to Mary Immaculate. He extended the commemoration of Our Lady's apparition at, Lourdes to the whole Western world. In 1904 he caused the fiftieth anniversary of the proclamation of the dogma of the Immaculate Conception to be cele-brated with unusual pomp and solemnity. On this occasion he published an encyclical (Ad diem illum), and a Marian Congress was held in Rome, culminating in the crowning of the image of Mary Immaculate in the choir of St. Peter's. Religious Instruction -- Intent on safeguarding the faith against the inroads of Modernism and on promoting piety among the faith-ful, Pius X realized--as no one better--that the best means of achieving his object lay in making the teaching and example of Our Lord better known and loved. Hence his great insistence on reli-. gious instruction. As a parish priest and bishop he had been most assiduous in instructing his people. As Pope he laid special stress on this obligation of the sacred ministry, setting the example by preaching a homily on the Gospel in one of the Vatican courtyards every Sunday. Catechism teaching received a fresh and vigorous impetus after the publication of the encyclical Acerbo nimis, on the teaching of Christian doctrine (April 15, 1905). In this document Pius X attributed the prevailing religious crisis to the widespread ignorance of divine truth and laid down strict regulations concerning the duty of catechizing. He enacted that (1) all parish priests, and, in gen-er, al, all those entrusted v~ith the care of souls, shall on every Sun-day and feastday throughout the year, without exception, give boys 121 J.P.,L~ONARD Reoie~ for Religious and girls an hour's instruction from the catechism on those things which everyon~ must believe and do in order to be saved; (2) at stated times during the year they shall prepare boys and girls by continued instruction, lasting several days, to receive the sacraments of penance and confirmation; (3) they shall likewise and with special care, on all the week day~ in L~nt, and if necessary on other days after the feast of Easter, prepare boys and girls by suitable in-struction and exhortation to make their First Communion in a holy manner; (4) in each and every parish, the society.commonly called "Confraternity of Christian Doctrine" shall., be canonic~lly erected: through this the parish priests, especially in places where there is a s.carcity of priests, vcill have lay helpers for the catecbetical i~struc-tion in pious persons who will devote themselves to the office of teaching. To give effect to this enactment Plus X bad a new cate-chism prepared for use in the Diocese of Rome and in its ecclesiastical province and expressed a desire that it should be adopted throughout Italy. Nor was he less emphatic in prescribing catechetical instruction to adults. We know that the ruling on the subject contained in canon law (cc. 1329-1336, particularly 1332, 1335) Was inserted by his special recommendation. Thus did he hope to oppose an effective remedy to what be deplored as the pernicious, source of the prevailing religious indifference and neglect of the Church's services. CONCLUSION ~,Ve have considered some of the activities of the saintly Pontiff. Summing up his reign, U. ]Senigni writes in the Catholic Encyclo-pedia: "In a few years Plus X has scored great, practical,-and lasting results in the interest of Catholic doctrine and discipline, ,and that in the face of great difficulties of all kinds. Even non-Catholics recognize his apostolic spirit, his strength of character, the precision of his decisions, and the pursuit of a clear explicit programme." (Cf. conclusion of article "Pius X.") ¯ Outward achievements of consequence are indeed a credit to a man, a proof of ability~, a monument to his name. But they do not tell the whole tale. Yv'hat is of greater importance is to probe~the inner spirit that lay back of the actions and prompted them. St. Ber-nard, ~riting to his former disciple Pope Eugene III, reminded him that outward works, however .holy~ and worthy they might be in themselves, were of no value unless they were inspired and sublim-ated by a pure intentiori and actuated by holy motives: they might 122 May. 1954 THE PONTIFICATE OF PlUS X even be fraught with danger inasmuch as by their m, ultiplicity and deadening pressure they were apt to choke and stifle the spirit, as too much wood heaped on a flame causes it to be smothered. In the case of Plus X, we know for certain, nothing of the kind wa, s to be feared: he never allowed himself to be diverted from his own great purpose and ideal: All for Christ! To restore all things in Christ ! There was more than this lofty singleness oi~ purpose, this un-swerving orientation of all his activity towards a cherished goal. All those who had the privilege of approaching him and dealing with him were deeply impressed by the character of holiness that radiated from him and was reflected in his manner, speech, and every action. Baron yon Pastor says of him: "He was one of those chosen few men whose personality is irresistible. Everyone was moved by his Simplicity and his angelic kindness. Yet it was something more that carried him into all hearts, and that 'something' is best defined by saying that all who were ever admitted to his presence had a deep conviction of being face to face with a saint--and the more one knows about him the strc~nger this conviction becomes." It was this conviction that led the Cardinals of the Roman Curia as far back as February 1923 to petition that the cause of his beati-fication and canonization be introduced, Their fond hope has be-come a glorious reality. Pope Plus X was solemnly beatified on June 3, 1'951--50,000 pilgrims crowding St. Peter's to venerate him and to invoke his blessing. But long before the authoritative decree was read out, the popular voice had anticipated the official pronouncement. People had not the slightest doubt about the re-sult of the process, more than 200 witnesses testifying to his heroic virtue. What they prayed for during the years that intervened be-tween his death and his glorification, what they desired with all the ardor of their hearts was that the day should not be too long de-layed, that they should live to see their hopes come true. During the Holy Year it was quite a usual sight to behold groups of pil-grims kneeling on the spot over the Pontiff's tomb and reciting the prayer for his beatification. Rome has spoken. The happy event has brought jubilation to millions of souls. We share the joy of our fellow Catholics all the world over. With them we acclaim the new Beatus and recommend ourselves to his powerful intercession. But let us do more. Let us take to heart the lesson of his saintly life. Let us impress upon ou,r minds and hearts the wise directions he addressed to the Catholic world during his fruitful Pontificate, 123 J.P. LEONARD par.ticulaily those that concern us more directly in regard to our per-sonal safictification and in regard to our pastoral duties. Let us im-plore him to obtain for us an ardent love for Christ Our Lord, an unflagging zeal for His dear interests, a sincere devotion to the Holy EuCharist and :o Mary Immaculate, and, last not least, a loyal at-tachment to the Vicar of Christ on earth, an active interest in the Church's welfare, a self-sacrificing gift of ourselves to souls in the exercise of our calling. Blessed Pius, p?ay for us. Amen. Blessed Pius X--Some Da'l'es 1835:Giuseppe Sarto born of poor parents at Riese, in the territory of Venice. 1858: Ordained a priest.--Parish ministry. 1875: Canon of Treviso, rector of the seminary. - 1884: Bishop of Mantua. 1893: Cardinal and Patriarch of Venice. 1903 : August 4, Elected Pope. Oct. 4, Encycl, E supremi: restoration of all things in Christ. Nov. 22, Motu proprio on Sacred Music. 1904: March 19, Commission for the codification of canon law. 1905: April 15, Encycl. Acerbo nimis: teaching of Christian Doctrine. 3une 1 !, Encycl. II fermo proposito: 'Catholic Action.' Dec. 20, Decree Sacra Tridentina &.lrmdus: daily Communion. 1907: Sept. 8, Epcyd. Pascendi: against Modernism. 1908: 3une 29, Constit. 8apienti consilio: reorganization of the Curia. Aug. 4, Exhortatio ad Clerum Catbolicum. Haerent anlmo. 1910: Aug. 8, Decree Quam sinqulari: Communion of children. 1911 :.Nov. 1, Constit. Dit~ino aOtcttu: new disposition of the psalter in the.,brevi-ary. 1913: Oct. 23, Motu proprio Abhinc duos annos: reform of the breviary. 1914: Aug. 20, Death of Plus X. ' 1951: June 3, Beatification. 1954: May 29, date scheduled for canonization. (Even this brief list of documents makes one realize how deep an influence Plus X has had on almost every aspect of the life of the Church.) OUR CONTRIBUTORS MOST REVEREND J. [3. LEONARD i:; Archbishop of Madurai, India. JOSEPH F. GALLEN is professor of canon law at Woodstock College, Woodstock, Mary-land. JOSEPH P. FISHER is master of novices at St. Stanislaus Seminary, Floris-sant, Missouri. ADAM C. ELLIS and FRANCIS N. KORTH are members of our editorial board and professors of canon law at St. Mary's College, St. Mary's, Kansas. 124 Pray Reasonably Joseph F. Gallen, S.J. ALL will agree that prayer is supremely,necessary in the religiou.s life; all will admit also that the necessity in modern times is an intensification, not a minimizing of prayer. The same agreement should extend to the principles t.hat the amount of pre-scribed prayer should not be. impracticable or even impossible, that it should harmonize and not conflict with work, that quality, quan-tity, and preference should be based on the purpose of the religious life, self-sanctification and the sanctification of others, and that pro-longed prescribed prayer does not necessarily produce a prayerful re-ligious. The following pages are ~n examinfition of the practicable amount and quality of prayer in lay religious congregations of ac-tive purpose. ~Attention is directed principally to the excess and ex-ternal defects of prayer. All will not agree with every opinion here expressed, but the purpose of the article will be attained if it leads to a more common recognition and practical study of a very im- 'portant problem) l, Hour o/: ddt~g. This should be such as to give sufficient sleep. It should not be so early that it is excessively difficult in itself and causes the burden of too long a day. An efficient hour of rising also depends on the climate. It is my opinion that the hour of rising for religious of active purpose in the United States should not be earlier than five-thirty. This applies also and especially to religious engaged in l~ospital and institutional work. Some now rise ~it five o'clock and even somewhat before five. The early hour is frequently caused by an unthinking tenacity to what~has been done in the past, to the equally unjustifiable principle of making the horarium exactly the same in all countries in which the institute has houses, and, I believe, especially and more commonly to the excessive number and duration of the religious exercises. The Holy See in its practice in approving constitutions has stated more than once that the religious exercises should not be multiplied excessively. Habitual physical exhaustion is not conducive to a life of pray-er. Some other pertinent facts that are worthy of practical reflec-tion under this same heading are: the lack of a weekly holiday and 1Please see our observation~ relative to "Adaptation and Pra}'er," p. 138.--ED. 125 JOSEPH F. GALLEN Retyieu~ [or Religiou~ of a summer vacation, excessive occupations during the Christmas and Easter vacations and during the summer, the burdening of days free of class with too many added spiritual duties, and overwork in general. 2. Mornin9 pra~ters. Neither the Code of Canon Law nor the prac-tice of the Holy See contains any prescription on morning prayers for religious. The constitutions of lay congregations usually en-join morning prayers in common. An enactment that all the mem-bers of the co.mmunity must be present in the chapel for vocal prayer five minutes before the beginning of meditation is reasonable and helpful. No objection can be made to the usual practice of saying these prayers in common. There would also be no imp.erfection in a practice of saying them privately. The excess in vocal prayer in many institutes begins with the morning prayers. I find it difficult to admit as reasonable any duration of these prayers beyond five minutes. This opinion seems to be evident with regard to those in-stitutes that prescribe the daily recitation in private and especially in choir of the'Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary or any equiva-lent amount of vocal prayer. Very many lay congregations are in this category. The repetition of the same prayers, for example, Our Fathers and Hail Marys repeated many times for various ahd, perhaps, almost endless intentions, is something that should be avoided as the matter of common vocal prayer. Such practices tend to make prayer monotonous, mechanical, and formalistic. An ex-ample of the lack of balance of vocal with mental prayer would be a usage of twenty or twenty-five minutes of ordinary morning prayers and a half-hour of meditation. I believe that the proper balance here would be five minutes of morning prayer and forty-five minutes of meditation and that no other meditation should be obligatory for that day. 3. Meditation. Here, unfortunately, is the greatest weakness in the prayer of very many individual religious and even of entire in-stitutes. Many do not in fact evaluate m~ntal prayer as the most important prayer for the gefieral and special purpose of the religiou~ life, personal sanctification and the sanctification of others. Canon 595 commands religious superiors to take care that their subjects make a daily meditation but it does not define the duration ~of the meditation. It may be argued that the practice of the Holy See as stated in 1901 favors an hour of meditation, half of which may be made in the afternoon. It' is also recognized that the Holy See con- 126 May, 1954 PRAY REASONABLY siders meditation as one of the most important daily exercises and that dispensations should be granted only very rarely and for very serious reasons. The Sacred Congregation of Religious now con-stantly approves constitutions that demand only a half-hour of meditation. A few congregations have an hour in the morning and a half-hour in the afternoon. I presume that most authorities would incline to a daily medi-tation of an hour. However, such practical facts as a seven-hour day in school, a twelve-hour day and perhaps a seven-day week in a hos-pital or institution, and the amount of prescribed vocal prayer can-not be ignor.ed. I believe that the practical and proportionate amount of mental prayer is forty-five minutes, unless the institute prescribes the Little Office or a similar amount of vocal prayer. In this case a, half-hour of meditation seems to be the only practical norm. A half-hour is the absolute minimum, and no other exer-cises, such as morning prayers, should be permitted to detract from this amount. This is not the time to adduce many arguments and authorities to prove the necessity and value of mental prayer for the religious life. It will suffice to quote the present Roman Pontiff. His words in the apostolic exhortation Menti Nostrae are concerned directly with priestly sanctity but they apply with even greater force t6 the religious life, since its .obligation is that of striving for complete evangelical perfection: "Hence We feel Ourselves under serious ob-ligation to exhort you, in a special manner to the practice of daily meditation, which the Code of Canon Law also recommends to all clerics. Just as by this daily meditation zeal for priestly perfection is strengthened and re-enkindled, so also from neglect of this p.rac-rice arises that disgust with spiritual things whereby piety grows cool and languishes, and whereby not only is each one's pursuit of sanctity broken off or slowed down, but the activities of the sacred ministry likewise suffer no small harm. Wherefore, in all truth We assert that the special efficacy attached to meditation cannot be sup-plied by any other means and, consequently, that nothing else can replace the practice of daily meditation." Meditation discloses another general defect in prayer. One of the difficulties in meditation is the insistence on a common book of pre-paration or points, which are read in common to all. This practice is only one manifestation of the false general principle that all prayer must be in common. The standard proof advanced is that Our Lord is present wherever two or three are gathered together in 127 JOSEPH F. GALLEN His name. It can be retorted that the soul of every individual in the state of grace is the temple of the Holy Ghost. The plan of prayer in any religious institute should leave sufficient time and opportunity for individual 'prayer, for the individual to follow the inspiration df the Holy Ghost, and for the satisfaction of individual desires in prayer. The same meditation book and the same spiritual reading book do ,not suit nor al3peal to all. The individual should be per-mitted here to ~hoose his own book. He shou!d also be permitted to make his spiritual reading and to say the rosary in private and at the times, he finds most convenient. The Holy See has approved con-stitutions that explicitly permit the individual preparation of the meditation and spiritual reading and the rosary in private. Another manifestation of excessive uniformity i'n, prayer is in the po~sition during meditation. In many lay congregations, if not practically all, it is the custom for all to sit down .always for the en-tire meditation, except for a few minutes at the end. This is a very practical means of attaining a sluggish meditation. The principle of evident common sense is that the individual should take the posi-tion that he finds most conducive to prayer at t~h$ moment. 4. Mass. No one will question that this is the supreme act of the day. The recollection of the sacred or great silence, morning pray-ers, and the meditation should have prepared the religious for Mass. It is to be presu.med that all know how to assist profitably at Mass and are conscious of the necessity and value of thanksgiving 'filter Communion. I do not think it necessary to delay on daily Mass and Communion but I am convinced that it is imperative to draw attention to the very universal cult of.thd "second Mass." Religious who have only a half-hour of morning meditation usually recite the Little Office for twenty or twenty-five minutes be[ fore Mass. At the end of the thanksgiving they will thus. have spent an average of an hour and forty or forty-five minutes in con-tinuous prayer while .still fasting. In~ a few institutes this time reaches two hours. Every principle of common sense says that this is enough prayer for the early morning. There should be no fer-vent stampede to the chapel or even outside the house for a second Mass. "But the Eucharist is the center of our lives!" Even with regard to the most h~ly things it is a clear postulate ~f God's law that our conduct should be reasonable. There has been enough prayer thus far; there will be too much prayer during the regt of the day. Now is the time for other things, especially for a reasonable, Ma~l, 1954 PRAY REASONABLY if brief, period of free time and of relaxation of body.and mind, for work and preparation for class. We can reverence the Eucharist reasonably by assisting at one Mass as perfectly as possible. It is at least interesting to note how many institu'~es allow only thirty or thirty-five minutes for the community .Mass inclusive of thanks-giving, and yet a second Mass in their chapels always commands a very large attendance. Why not give the proper time of forty ,or forty~five minutes to the community Mass? This custom of attendance at a ~econd Mass suggests at least to my mind similar practices and a very important and basic question. Some institutes have an astonishing number of novenas during the year. There is a pronounced susceptibility to anythin~ bearing the name of litany. The mention of sufficiently rare practices of devo-tion is not infrequent. No month or day that offers an opportun-ity for special devotions in common is passed over. Visits to the Blessed Sacrament are distinguished by prescribed xCocal prayers and frequently enough by the repetitign of the same vocal prayers. The market for extraordinary and even unreasonable practices ;of piety is notably wide. There should be some practices of devotion in the lives of all religious, but I think it is legitimate to a'sk v~hett~er prac-tices of devotio'n have not engrossed and smothered the s~iritual liv'es o~ too many, religious, whether devotionalism has not supplanted the prayer of sanctity, mental prayer. Have we too many pious and devout men arid women rather than saintly religious? many practices of piety but few really interior and deeply prayerful religious? long prayers but too little mortification? many hours in the chapel but relatively little desire for detachment and self-conquest? 5. Little O~ce of the Blessed Virgir~ Mar~. The recitation of the Little Office in choir or privately is not commanded by the Code 9f Canon Law nor by the practice of the Holy See in approving con-stitution~. There are lay congregations that recite no office; but the Little Office is more usually prescribed in such institute~. The Holy See in 1901 commended, generally speaking, the choral recitation of at least a part of'the Little Office to these congregations. Constitu-tions enjoining only the private recitation of the office are relatively few. The amount and extent of the choral recitation prescribed in other institutes is sufficiently varied. In'some congregations the whole o.ffice is recited daily in choir in all the houses; in others this same obligation extends only to the mother housh, while houses en-gaged in the external works of the institute recite the entire office in 129 ' , JOSEPH F. GALLEN Reoieu) for Religious choir only on Sundays, holydays, and other vacation days; finally, some institutes demand that only a part of the office be recited daily in choir. The Little Office in lay congregations is a laudable approxima-tion to the public prayer of the Church. The widespread efforts to make the choral recitation more correct, prayerful, and edifying are equally praiseworthy. However, our present question is primarily the practicability of the prayer assigned in lay cbngregations. The choral recitation of the entire Little Office appears to take an hour and ten minutes. Considering the crowded and burdensome day of such institutes, I think this is entirely too much. In my judg-ment no more than a half-hour daily should be given to the choral recitation. Furthermore, if an institute imposes the Little Office in choir or privately, I do not believe that any other vocal prayers should be prescribed daily, especially in common, except the rosary and the vocal prayers of morning and evening visit. The quantity of religious exercises assigned to any period.of the day should not be overwhelming. We can accept as a maxim that a very good way of obtaining little prayer is to assign too much pray-er. For example, is it reasonable to impose the burden of a solid hour and a ball or two hours of spiritual duties in the afternoon and after a seven-hour day in class? Is it likely that the time ac-tually given to prayer will be proportionate to the time assigned to prayer? Does such a usage make reasonable allowance for'physical fatigue, necessary work, hospital or institutional schedules, prepa'- tion for class, and advance in knowledge? Religious should also be allowed the satisfaction of completion in prayer; they should not be subjected to the somewhat nagging tendency of having prayers constantly tacked on. Why should a long period of ordinary vocal prayers be added to the chorhl recita.- tion of the office? Why must several Our Fathers and Hail Marys, litanies, and acts of faith, hope, and charity be always tacked on to the office? , 6. Examen of conscience. Canons 592 and 125 oblige religious su-periors to take care that subjects make at least one daily examina-tion of conscience. The Code does not impose any determined method, frequency, or duration. Some congregations make the examen only once a day. The more usual frequency is twice, at noon and at night. The duration also varies, and five, seven, ten, and fifteen mintifes are found in constitutions approved by the Holy See. A general and particular examen twice daily of seven minutes 130 Mag, 1954 PRAY REASONABLY appears to me to be the reasonable and proportionate norm. Constitutions of lay congregations that prescribe the particular examen more commonly state that the particular examen is to be made at noon, the general at night. This has always seemed to me to be a strange practice. There is no doubt that the general examen may be separated from the particular and that the general may be confined to the evening, although the preferable practice for religious is to make both together. The strangeness is found in making the particular only at noon. Is it the intention to strive for the con-quest of a particular defect or the acquisition of a particular virtue for only half the day? If not, isn't it rather unnatural to examine oneself on this matter from noon to noon? 7. Spiritual reading. The Code of Canon Law contains no pre-scription on this matter, but the practice ~f the Holy See demands that an appropriate amount of time be given daily to spiritual reading. The varying times found in constitutions are thirty, twenty, and fifteen minutes. I believe that twenty minutes is the practical and proportionate amount. It can be reasonably suspected that the value of spiritual reading as an aid and remote preparation for mental prayer has not been too universally realized. The book and manner of reading should habitually be reflective and prayerful rather than merely informa-tional. The one book read in common for all, usually in the chapel, is the very common practice. I do not think that this practice is justi-fiable. As stated above, each professed religious should be permitted to choose his own book and to make the reading at the time that he individually finds most convenient. It is presumed that the book will be profitable and that the religious will follow any direction of competent authority. It is understandable that all should assemble for some of the religious exercises, for example, morning visit, medi-tation, examen, preparation for meditation, and night visit. Other-wise it can be reasonably feared that the faithful performance of these exercises will be too deficient. The religious necessarily as-semble for Mass and the choral recitation of the office. Not only the crowded and laborious day but also the fact that the religious should be trained in and given an opportunity to exercise individual re-sponsibility urge the conclusiqn that such duties as spiritual readil~g and the rosary should be in private and at the times chosen by the individual religious. 131 JOSEPH F. GALLEN Reuietu for Religfo,,~ Some institutes have an exercise called lecture. This apparently means an assembly in which~ the superior reads a chapter or two of the constitutions or something from another spiritual book and gives any general corrections or makes any announcements that he or she thinks necessary or opportune. This exercise is usually prescribed almost daily or at least several times a week. I do not. see the ne-cessity or value of such an exercise in the crowded day of the reli-gious we are discussing. Private spiritual reading will be rfiore effi-cacious. If desired, the chapter of two of the constitutions could be read more practically in the refectory at one or two meals of each week. I find it difficult to conceive of a religious community so gen-erally errant that the superior must have the opportunity of giving a common correction sever, al times a week. Few announcements in a religious community are of such a private nature that they cannot be posted on a notice' board or, if private, cannot be communicated in other ways than by a special assembly. I see no reason why it should be necessary to give the superior such an opportunity more than twice a month at the very most. Some constitutions explicitly state the very reasonable interpre-tation that a,n unusual religious exercise, such as an instruction, conference, Benediction, Holy Hour, or chapter of faults, dispenses from the obligatory daily spiritual reading. 8. Rosary. Here also canons 592 and 125 apply and oblige supe-riors to take care that their subjects say the rosary daily. Five decades are sufficient. 9. Visits to the Blessed Sacrament and similar matters. The same canons oblige superiors to take care that their subjects visit the Bles-sed Sacrament daily. Visits that total fifteen minutes a day are cer-tainly sufficient as far as canon law is concerned, anh there is no doubt that the prescribed visits in lay congregations far exceed this amount. The obligatory visits in common should not be multipiied ex-cessively. I see no reason why these should not be confined to the mo~ning and night visits and to visits after each meal. The dura-tion should not be too prolonged. Five minutes should suffice for these visits. They should~not be put at a time that causes a conflict with or inconvenience to work. For exdmple, it is not reasonable to prescribe a visit at an hour when practically all the religious must be at work. Visits as found in lay congregations manifest the overemphasis 132 Ma~l, 19,54 PRAY REASONABLY on vocal prayer in common, particularly of the repetition of the same prayers. The usual repetition is that of Our Fathers and Hail Marys for a multiplicity of intentions. The obvio.us first recom-mendation is that the intentions for which such prayers are being offered should be most thoroughly examined. It is certain that some of these constit'ute the unreasonable perpetuation of the individual fervor of superiors of the past. The intentions should be restricted to those that can be classed as necessary or of unusual and common value. I see no reason why the prayers for most of these intentions should be in common. Why would it not suffice to post~or to read in the refectory once a month all the prescribed intentions and the prayers to be said by all privately for each intention? A notice could be similarly posted or read for any prayers for occasional spe-cial intentions. Prayer in common can be and is exaggerated in these institutes. We are to remember that God is the Heavenly Father of each one of us. A~ religious should be granted some time alone with his Father. Under this heading we must add the prin-ciple contained in many constitutions approved by the Holy See: no local superior should be allowed to add in any way to the pre-scribed religious exercises withoht the permission of"a higher~ supe-rior. This ,permission should be granted 6nly rarely, fqr an im-portant matter, and temporarily. A Holy Hour in common is imposed weekly in some institutes. Wouldn't it be more reasonable to confine this to the eve of First Friday? The months of March, May, June, October, and Novem-ber and the season of Lent ar. frequently the occasion of obligatory special devotions in common. The prudence of imposing common devotions during all of these times can be questioned. The duration of such devotions .should not ordinarily exceed five minutes. Pro-longed devotions of thi~ type can raise the prescribed daily religious exercises to a most formidable and even impossible total and can easily weary rather than strengthen the spirit of prayer. In institutes that do not have the Little Office the common, vocal prayers apparently intended as a substitute are sometimes excessive. I do not think that the time assigned for such prayers added to that given to meditation should total more than an hour and twenty minutes. The same general type of excess is verified in'the addition of a considerable amount 6f other vocal prayer to the Little Office. Private visits are to be encouraged, as is the Way of the Cross in private. Most of these visits should be very brief, but it is a good 133 o ,JOSEPH F. GALLEN Review for Religious practice to make one visit a day that is rather prolonged, i.e., aboiat ten 6r fifteen minutes. A religious who never makes a private visit has to be classed as quite deficient, but the emphasis on individual visits and time before the Blessed Sacrament can also be exaggerated. The encomium that a religious spends all his time before the Blessed Sacrament can be questioned. It is impossible in a laborious life. We have been implying thus far that the religious exercises cannot be prescribed without careful consideration of the long and heavy labors in the works of the institute. Another consideration is equally important. The day of the religious must permit proper ¯ prepaiation for class and other work and some time also for advance study in his field. It is a certain fact that this time is completely insufficient in practically all lay congregations. Especiall';- the higher fields of knowledge require protracted periods of study and cannot be mastered or prepared for class presentation by intellectual snacks of five minutes here and there. 10. Preparation for meditation. Eight minutes should suffice for this exercise. Individual preparation will also eliminate the dry serving of points at ten-minute intervals during the meditation. This practice h~s certainly contributed to the dehydrated and dessi-cated complexion of the mental prayer of many religious. 1 1. Silence, cloister, and l~orarium. In the religious life the sacred or ,great silence lasts from the time of a definite exercise in the evening until an appointed time in the morning. This silence demands that no one shall speak except for a serious reason and then as briefly as possible and in a low voice. The work of the institute is something of an obstacle to silence throughout the day, but as far as possible ordinary religious silence is to be observed during the day; i.e., in the house and outside of recreation religious talk only of what is necessary, useful, or demanded by courtesy. The purpose of reli-gious silence is a recollected and prayerful life. One of the purposes of cloister is to exclude unnecessary distractions and thus also to help to a life of recollection and prayer. Silence and cloister tend to recollection partially by effecting a quiet, calm, and peaceful,tenor of life. We canreasonably doubt that the horarium in lay congre-gations tends to the same effect. Isn't the daily life of many such religious a scurrying, headlong, excited, and feverish rush from duty to duty? The point I wish to make is that such a pace is an evident obstacle to a recollected and prayerful life. The excited religious is not a prayerful religious. I realize that there are difficulties, espe- 134 Mag, 1 ~ 5 4 PRAY REASONABLY cially that of overwork, in adjusting the horarium, but some ad-justment is possible. The horarium must be less minute, less insis-tent on everything in common; there must be more breaks, more free time, more attention to rest and less to keeping the religious busy; more easing of the tension; more emphasis on sincere interior prayer than on long prayers. 12. Chapter o1: faults. This is not mentioned in the Code of Canon Law nor is it of obligation from the practice of the Holy See. How-ever, the constitutions of lay congregations usually prescribe the chapter of faults. The norm of frequency stated by the Holy See in 1901 for congregations that had the chapter was that it should not be prescribed more frequently than once a week nor less than once a month. As actually found in constitutions, the greater number of institutes have it once a month, others every two weeks or weekly. A few institutes have the ch~ipter very rarely. In one congregation approved by the Holy See the chapter is held only four times a year. I believe that the proportionate frequency would be no more than once a month at the very most. In practice the chapter is an assembly in which the religious ac-cuse themselves of external violations of religious discipline. The superior assigns a penance after the accusation and in some institutes adds a counsel, admonition, or correction. The chapter is an exer~ cise that can readily become mechanical. It has been praised as very useful by some canonical authors, but I incline to an emphasis and insistence that the superior should be more of a spiritual guiding force for the community and the individual rather than an executive or a mere dispenser of permissions and that he shouId have the courage to give individual an~l private correction when this is neces-sary or advisable. 13. Annual retreat. Canon 5'95 commands religious superiors to take care that their subjects make an annual retreat. The Code does not determine the method, duration, nor manner, in common or in private, of the annual retreat. The duration ordinarily found in constitutions is eig]~t or six days. A very few institutes have a duration of seven or five days. Eight full days constitute the pref-erable duration. 'Many suggestions could be given for making retreats more profitable, but I wish to confine myself to a matter that is abso-, lutely fundamental. The basic reason why retreats to many reli-gious institutes are not producing a more marked profit is that very 135 JOSEPH F. GALLEN Review for Religious few of their religious ever really make a retreat. The usual practice in' an Ignatian "retreat to religious in the United States is that, the director, in addition to a practical conference, gives the preparation for three meditations, but in inang institutes the retreatants make only one meditation and that o.nly for the time of their ordinary morning meditation. What an unreasonable~ .contradiction! The primary instrument of~a retreat is meditation, and yet almost no one will meditate! To give preparations for meditations that have no possibility Of existence! To be faced by so many religious who are completely unconscious of the fact that they should meditate! The meditation that tells the director all is that after breakfast on the first day, If, as soon as he has finished giving the preparation, he sees all the religious leaving swiftly with a sense of completion, he knows that it is the same old story, a retreat th'at is not a retreat, a retreat wihout the essence of a retreat, spiritual exercises dominated by.passivity. Isn't this very wide practice a clear indication that mental prayer has lost its rightful place in the life of many religious institutes? It is also a practice that should not be permitted to con-tinue, The retreatants should make each meditation for at least forty-five minutes and should spend ten minutes in reflection after each meditation.- Any other religious exercises of the communl,ty that c6nflict with the time or energy demanded by the retreat should be abbreviated or omitted. In a few institutes the director is asked, after giving the prepara-tion for the morning meditation the previous evening, to repeat this preparation or even to make the meditation with the community the next morning.' The reason often given fdr the request is that this is what is done during the year, the points for the morning rfieditation are read the night before and also in the morning before the meditation. It is very difficult to be patient with such a request. The memories of nb religious community are so generally de, ficient as to justify this' request, and it is to be held as a firm pres~mption of the law of the Church and a clear principle of common sense that mental prayer is within the power of all religious. 14. Montblg recollection. The constitutions almost universally ' prescribe a day of monthly recollection. This exercise'is not com-manded by canon law, but Pius XI earnestly urged the practice even to lay people to conserve the spiritual profit of the retreat and also as an,efficacious spiritual means in itself. Inasmuch as the day of recollection participates of the nature of a retreat, mental rather than 136, May, 1954 NEWS AND VIEWS vocal prayer should be favored in any added exercise. Many consti-tutions propose or emphasize this practice as a day of preparation for death. Since the aspect Of death is apt in fact to give the practice a completely negative character'of self-examination and. to minimize that of progress, I would have preferred its omission. 15. Tridua. Some congregations prescribe a triduum, in fact, a full three-day retreat, at the close of the year. The practice is in itself commendable, but I doubt that it permits the r.eligious to have the rest during the Christmas vacation that their strenuous a~hd over-burdened life demands. I prefer the practice in use in a few insti-tutes of a day of recollection, really a day of retreat, conducted by a priest on the last day of the year. Plus X (~ur article, "The Pontificate ot~ Pius X," is reprinted with per-mission from The Clergv Monthlv (August, 1951), a periodical edited by the 3esuit Fathers at St. Mary's Theological College, Kurseong, India, and published by the Catholic Press, Ranchi, B.N.Ry, India. The summary of dates following the article is also taken from The Cterg~l Montfilv. The author of the article, the Most Reverend 3. P. Leonard, S.,I., is now the Archbishop of Madurai. The article is reprinted with only a few very slight changes. It seems certain as we go to press that the Pope will proceed with the canonization of Blessed Pius X on ,May 29. Archbishop Leonard's article will make very appropriate reading for the occa-sion; and one more change--in a sense, not slight--will be in order: "'Saint Pius, pr,ay for us. Amen." Adaptation and'Prayer Some years ago (March, 1949) we published an article by Father d. Creusen, S.d., on "Adaptation." The article was pub-lished before the Congress on the States of Perfection iva~ held in Rome (September, 1950), but the general lines of the article were in perfect accord with the proceedings and conclusions of the Con- ~ress. We now have another excellent article on adaptation, based 137 NEWS AND VIEWS Review [or Religious on the proceedings of the Congress, that will be published in "our July number. , In our present number, Father Joseph Gallen, S.J., considers an aspect of adaptation that many religious will consider "touchy." Nevertheless, if prayer is to be what it should be in the li.ves of re-ligious, serious consideration must be given to the points raised by Father Gallen, especially to all customs that concern the saying of vocal prayers in dommon and to the multiplication of such prayers. As Father Gallen says, not everyone will agree with him on all his suggestions; but it seems to us that every thoughtful reader-- whether agreeing with him or not--must realize that he himself has given much thought to the problems. We would welcome frank discussions of the questions he raises and of the solutions he offers. Silver Jubilee Father Creusen's article on adaptation, referred to above, ap-peared originally in Revue des communautds religleuses, XVIII, 97. With Father 1~. Jombart, S.J., Father Creusen began the Revue des co~rnunautds religieuses in 1925. Publication was interrupted during most of World War II; hence Volume 25 was not completed till the end of 1953. On the occasion of this silver jubilee of publication, Father Creusen received a congratulatory letter from Monsignor Montini, the Pro-Secretary of State, who wrote in the name of the Holy Father. The Revue was praised for the high quality of its articles, for the utility of the articles and documents it publishes, and in general for its beneficial influence on religious and clergy. The Holy See's praise of the Revue has a special meaning for us because we are trying to do in the United States what Father Creusen and his associates have done and are doing among French-speaking religious. Eagerly we add our own small praise to the congratulations of the Holy See. Congress in Canada By decree of the Sacred Congregation of Religious there will be a national congress of all the religious institutes of Canada, in Montreal, July 26-30. Tile Congress will be similar to that held at the University of Notre Dame in 1952. Rev. Joseph Rous-seau, O.M.I., Procurator General of the Oblates of Mary Immacu-late and Consultor to the Sacred Congregation of Religious, has been appointed General Secretary of the Congress and of its Execu-tive Council. Associate Secretaries are Rev. Andf~ Guay, O.M.I., 1138 , Mag, 1954 NEWS AND VIEWS Director of the Catholic Centre of the University of Ottawa, and Rev. Edward Sheridan, S.2., Prefect of Studies of the Jesuit Semi-nary in Toronto. In reality, four distinct congresses will be held: of French-speaking religious men, of French-speaking religious women, of English-speaking religious men, and of English-speaking religious women. Only the inaugural and concluding sessions will bring the four groups together. The Congress will be held at the Holy Cross College of S. Laurent and the adjoining women's colle, ge of Ste. Croix, in a northern suburb of Montreal. The spacious facilities of these two adjoining institutions, with their many classrooms and lecture halls and fine collegiate church, ~iIl provide ample accommodation for the sectional session halls, committee rooms, etc. The COngress will meet for four full days. On each of the four days, four short papers, each of some twenty minutes length, will be read in each section. The delegates willhave summaries of these papers by the opening of the Congress and a more complete and detailed development of each paper will appear in the Acta 8f the Congress. On the conclusion of the fourth paper, the section (of men or women, English-speaking or French-speaking) will break up into small committees to discuss the paper in greater detail and in its practical applications, according to prepared questionnaires and discussion topics which will be different for different committees. In the afternoon, the section will reunite for a general disc~ussion and for reports of each committee. A survey of the.findings, prob-lems, and solutions resulting from these committee sessions will be presented and will appear in the Acta. The sectional afternoon ses-sions will close with the formulation of resolutions, recommenda-tions, and petitions. A pilgrimage of all four sections to Montreal's famous St. Jo-seph's Shrine on Mount Royal, is planned for the evening of the last day of the Congress. Certain members of each institute will attend the Congress ex officio, namely, major superiors, masters and mistresses of novices, superiors of scholasticates. Others will attend as the appointed delegates of their institutes, in numbers proportionate to the num-bers of the institutes represented. It is expected that the Congress will unite a total of some fourteen hundred religious--eight hun- 139 NEWS AND VIEWS Review t~or Religious dred sisters and six huiadred priests and brothers--from all the in-stitutes of Canada. The program of papers, which is substantially the same for all sections, is: First day: (1) Tending to Perfection in Charity; (2) Religious Obedience; (3) Religious Poverty; (4) Perfect Chas-tity. Second Day: (1) Liturgical Prayer; (2) Prayer; (3) The Sacrament of Penance; (4). Religious Observance. Third day: (1) Judging a Vocation; (2) Methods of Recruiting; (3) The Personnel Required for Forming Religious; (4) Elements in the Formation of Young Religious. Fourth day: (1) Perfection in Charity and the Apostolate; (2) The Sanctifying Value~ of the Various Works of the Apostolate; (3) Diversity of the Apostolate and the Need for Collaboration; (4) Problems of the Apost61ate. Summer Sessions?. Marquette University will offer a course restricted to sisters on Marriage Guidance for Teachers. Among (;ther things, the course is designed to prepare the sisters (i) to present the matter of marriage in such a way as to enable the students to make a rational choice of vocation in life, and (2) to convey an attitude toward sex and mar-riage which will be a stabilizing factor in and out of marriage. Fa-ther Richard Arnold, S.J., will conducl~ the course. Marquette will also continue the courses in theology on the graduate level, de-signed especially for religious brothers and sisters. This graduate program leads to a degree of Master of Arts, with a major in the-ology. For further information write to:' The Director, Summer Session, Marquette University, Milwaukee 3, Wisconsin. Between June 14 and August '3 each Sunday afternoon a con-ference will be given by members of the Creighton University Sum-mer S,chool Staff on the religious virtues. Sister Mary Digna, O.S.B., w'ill conduct a week-end institute on the scientific factor in selecting candidates for religious life. Dr. Leo Kennedy will conduct an in-stitute on guidance and vocational counseling. Sister M. Casimir, O.P., is arranging an institute on music for the schools. Dr. Robert Nossen is director of the institute on the teaching of high school English. Sister M. Muriel, S.H.M., will teach courses in remedial reading and will likewise direct an institute in. that field. Another workshoi9 wll be "conducted in story-telling, book selection, and extra-curricular reading for elementary school children. Nine gradu-ate or under-graduate credits may be earned during the eight-week session. Rev. Francis Korth, S.J., will have a 3-hour course on 140 Mag, 1954 NEWS AND VIEWS moral guidance, and Rev. Leo Cbressel, S.d., will continue his theo-logical cycle course with "special questions in dogmatic theology." Rev. Vincent L. Decker, S.d., will teach fundamental theology, and Rev. Philip Derrig, S.J., will teach Christian iworship. Please direct inquirie~ and requests for Summer School catalogues to: Dean Wil-liam F. Kelley, S.3., Director of the Summer Session, Creighton Universit~r, Omaha 2, Nebraska. The-Rev. duniper Carol, O.F.M., formerpresident of the Ma-riological Society of America and now its secret~iry, will offer a series of lectures in Mari01ogy at St. Bonaventure University, Olean, N. Y., tl~is summer. The course will begin duly 3 and con-tinue through the first week in August. Father Carol is a well-l~ nown Franciscan theologian of Our Blessed Lady in the United States. He has written many amcles and books on Marian docmne, especially the doctrine of Our Lady as Co-Redemptrix. Other courses this summer include dogma, moral, church history, canon law for religious, and catechetics. The course at St. Bonaventure leads to a Master's degree or a certificate in theology. Ins÷itu~e of Spldtuali~y 849 sisters, representing 159 religious communities, attended .the Institute of Spirituality at the University of Notre Dame last summer. This institute, which is for superiors and mistresses of novices, will be given at Notre Dame again this summer, August 4-10. , The morning-lectures Will be given b.y the Reverend Paul Philippe, O.P.; the Reverend Gerald Kelly, S.J.; and the R~verend Charles Corcoran, C.S.C. Father Philippe's lectures are entitled, "The Role of the Holy Spirit in Counseling'i'; Fa,ther Kelly's, "Psychologichl Problems in Religious Life"; and Father Corcoran's, "The Vow of Obedience," The evening lectures will be given by the Reverend A.PI~,O.P.; the Reverend Albert J. Riesner, C.SS.R.; and the Reverend Gabriel Diefenbach, O.F.M.Cap. Father Pl~'s lectures are entitled, "The Adaptation of the Religious Life to Actual Conditions"; Father Riesner's, "Canon Law for Religious--The Vow of Poverty"; and Father Diefenbach's, "The Life of Prayer." ~ "This important institute is'one of the tangible effects of the Congress of Religious, held at Notre Dame in 1951. For further information write to: The Reverend A. Leonard Collins, C.S.C., Department of Religion, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana. 141 N :ure Joseph P. Fisher, S.J. IHAVE OFTEN wondered just how satisfactory an understand-ing of the relation between nature and grace most religious-- especially those untrained in theology~have. They certainly .have been impressed by the role of grace in the economy of salva-tion. In their reading and meditating they must often have con-sidered those clear words of Christ, "Without Me you can do nothing." They know that grace "is absolutely necessary for sal-vation, necessary for any advance in the spiritual life, necessary even for a start in it. Grace stands, therefore, before their eyes as all-important and so it should. Their knowledge of grace as far as it goes is, accordingly, quite accurate. But I wonder about their understanding of nature. While they have been reading and meditating on the marvels of divine grace, they have also, quite likely, been forming some notions about na-ture. And, of course, nature regarded as a competitor or adversary of grace is put in its place--and a very low and despicable place it is. Without distinctions being made, or at least clearly made, nature-- often used in ~i rather vague sense--is made to look very bad. 'Very many books on the spiritual life have remarks about nature that can well be typified by this statement in the Follgtoing of Christ: "'Wherefore, as nature is the more kept down and subdued, with so much greater abundance is grac.e infused" (Bk. III, Ch. 54). It is true that fi Kempis himself has the correct distinction in mind (the whole of Ch. 54 implies the distinction and there is an explicit statement in Cb. 55) but the force of an unmodified word has strange power. It is all very simple if we understand all the oppro-brium heaped on nature as being piled on corrupt, unregenerated na-ture, inasmuch as it is the source of the inordinate in human life. St. Paul says some hard things about nature, but anyone who wants to understand the sense in which he uses the word can check his meaning as set forth in Fernand Prat, The Theologg of St. Paul, Vol. II, pp. 61-62. It comes to this, that because of original sin there is left in all men a strong inc\ lination to e~;il. Understood, therefore, as the source of sin, nature can be despised and set at naught as much as one likes, but there is mucl~ good in nature which must be respected. 142 Ma~t, 1954 NATURE AND GRACE It may come as a surprise to some that it is a defined truth that by the light of the natural intellect man can know considerable truth about God and, it follows, much truth about many things: "If anyone shall say that the one true God, our Creator and Lord, cannot be certainly known by the natural light of human reason ~hrough created things, let him be anathema" (Vatican Council, Sess. III, de revel., can. 1). And it is certain that by the strerigtb of the natural will man can do considerable .good--not, however, salutary as far as supernatural salvation is concerned. It is no doubt because of these truths that the Baltimore Catechism has introduced the following change into the new edition: "The chief punishments of Adam which we inherit through original sin are: death, suffering, ignorance, and a strong inclination to sin." And the explanation of the last item runs thus: "Although we have a strong inclination to evil as a result of original sin, our nature is not evil in itself: it can perform some good actions in the natural order without the aid of grace." The old catechism had this: "Our nature was corrupted by" the sin of our first parents, which darkened our understanding, weakened our will, and left in us a strong inclination to evil." All this brings out the point that when one says "nature is bad, is to be repressed," one has to know what one means by "nature." God has never disowned, rejected the good in human nature as the Protestants would have it that He did. What, then, does it mean, "Without me you can do nothing"? It means we can do nothing of use to salvation without grace. That, of course, says a lot but it would be worse than a mistake to under-stand it in such a way as to deny the truths stated above. Actions speak louder than words. A~cordingly the example of the saints acts strongly to form a man's spiritual outlook. In the matter with which we are dealing, lives of the saints have had their effects. Many a person untrained in theology has come to the con-viction that the lives of many saints are a living proof of the state-ment that "as nature is the more kept down and subdued, with so much greater abundance is grace infused." And it is true that the saints have often, at least according to the accounts of their lives, disdained nature and its needs and, apparently, were the better for it. Many ate extremely little, slept hardly at all, undertook severe austerities, and yet carried on their work in a remarkable way. It is. certain that if an ordinary individual would do what the saints have d6ne in despite of nature in the ordinary providence of God he would pay the price. There is, therefore, a distinction that must be 143 JOSEPH P. FISHER Reuieu.~ for Religious brought in here. Ordinarily God does' not work miracles to make up for the rashness and mistakes of men. True it is that in His ex-. traordinary providence God takes care of His holy ones, and that is one reason why we say God is wonderful in His saints. A clear example of What could happen, and has happened, if the idea expressed above (that the more nature--even that which is good in nature--is contradicted and thwarted the higher grace rises) would be carried to its logical conclusion is this: the absolute cessation of all spiritual progress--at least for the time-~by insan-ity. That is a terrible thing to think of, but it is true. Whatever one thinks about the relationship of nature and grace, one cannot get around this hard fact: not a few human beings have come to the end of their growth in grace because the natural faculties of mind and will have ceased their natural functions and hence grace--which do~s no"t operate in a void '" is at a standstill. There are, of course, less extreme results brought about by a neglect of nature and We shall instance some of these later. For the time being it is enougl~ to make clear that God does not always--to say the least--work a miracle to stop or rectify the results of a man's imprudence in handling nature. God can if He so chooses suspend the effects of nature's physidal laws, but we do not ordinarily count on that. So far we have been rather negative in what we have said. What can be said positively of nature's position in regard to grace? At the outset it has to be remarked that anyone treating of the relation-ship between' nature and grace has to be careful not to fall into the errors of Pelagianism or semi-Pelagianism. In order to make clear, ,before we proceed further, the teaching of the Church i~n the mat-ter we shall summarize what has to be said. First of all, mere nature, that is, nature without the aid of grace, cannot, in strict justice, merit initial grace (.the first grace a man re] ceives on the way to sanctifying grace) nor, consequently, any of the series of subsequent graces that lead to sanctifying" grace. More-over, there is no naturally good work' by which unaided nature could acquire even so much as an equitable claim --- one not "in strict justice but as a matter of fitness or equity--to supernatural grace. Nor can nature merit supernatural grace even by natural prayer, that is, merely human prayer without the aid of God's grace. And beyond all this a man cannot move God to the bestowal of super-natural grace by any positive disposition or preparation on his part. A man, for example, might prepare wet wood for burning by soaking' it in kerosene, but there is no such positive preparation by 144 May, 1954 NATURE AND GRACE which a man can prepare nature and make a claim on God for grace. Finally, the only thing a man can do to dispose nature for grace is to prepare himself negatively by not putting any obstacles' in the way or by removing obstacles that are present. ' In the example of the wood used above it would be similar to drying the wood and hence removing the wetness that would prevent the wood from burning. It is to be noted in t~is last case that by this negative disposi-tion a man does not cause--in the strict sense--God to give him grace, but if God so wishes He freely gives it. The freedom of God in giving grace must be preserved. By reason of this freedom in the disposal of grace God can choose and often has chosen the ignorant to confound the wise and the weak to shame the strong. The power of His grace stands out the more in such instances. And yet in His ordinary providence He seems to respect nature; not that He has to, but it seems from the facts that He does. God has never rejected the good in nature. " For this reason theologians have always taught that grace does not destroy nature but builds on it, elevates it. God loves His creation and even after man sinned there was still much in the work of His hands that He loved. It is time, then, to consider some of the ways in which grace builds on nature. In the first place, does it make any difference in the spiritual life what kind of mind a man has and how he uses it? It definitely does. God can make the very stones cry out or can speak-through a jackass--as He once dld-~but ordinarily He uses instruments according to their natural capacity. Wrong thinking in the spiritual life, wrong direction, has led to harmful consequences. Hence the importance of having accurate knowledge on spiritual matters. In the second place, does strength of will make any difference in the spiritual life? Does it help to know the true psychology of the will.; how~ to bring it to action? Admittedly God could take a weak-willed man and by His grace suddenly make him strong. But again God ordinarily works according to a man's nature. Poor use of will has held back many in spiritual progress. It is imperative, then, that those ,striving for spiritual advancement know at least the chief elements in the psychology 9f the will. And, thirdly, does the spiritual life depend in any way on a person's physical health, health of organs and nerve~s? Again God could set physical health aside as He has done in the case. of many saints. But saints are saints, and while we may admire them we cannot and ought not imitate their extraordinary conduct unless 145 JOSEPH P. FISHER Reoieto [or Religious God clearly calls us that way. The health of ordinary,mortals often has more to do with what goes,in their spiritual lives than they think it has. Everybody knows how St. Theresa and St. Ig-natius insisted on this fact. There is a story which may serve to il-lustrate this truth rather vividly. It was published some year~ ago in the Reader's Digest and goes something like this. A certain man of considerable means had suffered huge losses in the great de-pression of 1929. Worry over his critical financial condition, over what the future might bring, and over 'what people might think, naturally reacted on his health. He became more and more sleep-less, lost his appetite, grew more and more nervous, and felt as if a complete physical collapse was imminent. In this crisis he thought of what many others had thought of as a way 6ut--suicide. But for the sake of his family and his own good name he did not want to make a crude job of it; go he decided to consult a psychiatrist on the best way to achieve his purpose with the least notice and oppr6- brium. When he gave his stor~ to the psychiatrist, the wise man sympa-thized with him, thought the matter over, and suggested this method of carrying out his intention. The patient was over middle age, fat, in poor condition, and no doubt not very far from a heart attack. So all he would have to do would be to eat a good supper, then go for a little walk, after a while start running, and then be-cause of his poor condition his heart would give out and people would say that he had had a heart attack. This plan sounded very fine to the patient and he resolved to try it. So that night he did as the doctor had told him. But when he started running, nothing happened, and so he kept running and puffing. Growing tired, he stopped and after some time returned home tired and sleepy. He went to bed rather early and slept like a baby. When he got up in the morning he was a little stiff but felt rather well. But he was resolved to try a little harder that evening. And so he did. He walked farther and ran harder and puffed even more. Again nothing happened. So he returned home and slept even better and ate voraciously in the morning and felt dangerously well. But he was still resolved to carry out his purpose. So he repeated the per-formance the next night, exerting himself even more,' but again nothing happened. He went to bed and again slept marvelously well. He arose in the morning and ate heartily and had a strange sense of well-being. He felt he could meet and conquer all his prob-lems. He was even eager to get at them. 146 May, 1954 NATURE AND GRACE This story, aside from the fact that it concerns an attempted suicide and has the psychiatrist pretending to condone the attempt, allows for a wholesome application because it shows how ill health may create a spiritual problem and good health may solve it. Not infrequently religious are impeded in their spiritual lives by tired-ness, headaches, nerves, and such .complaints. No doubt like'all "creatures" of God these distresses can be used to help one in the spiritual life, but they must be handled by the great virtue of pru-dence. Our Lord told us to be as wise as serpents and as simple as doves. With the help of our spiritual guides, we must learn when such things advance us and when they impede us in the great work we are doing. And we must come to some decision as to how we are to conduct ourselves in their regard. Finally, there is the question of the natural virtues. It will be sufficient for our purpose to indicate in general their importance in regard to the accompanying virtues. Without the accompanying natural habit the infused, supernatural virtue is left, so to speak, in the air. The natural virtue gives the infused virtue facility and solidity. A person, for example, who has the infused virtue of for-titude m. ay in practice act very cowardly. It is only/ when he has acquired the habit of acting bravely that the supernatural virtue will function as it should. And so with all other virtues. That is why Father Hull in his little book, The Formation of Character, says that "all virtues, even the supernatural ones, are radically and .functionally natural ones . " It may be well to add that religious ought not to fear to develop and use to the utmost the natural talents God has given them. All too often the words of Our Lord apply to religious: "The children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light" (Lk. 16:8). Certainly the wicked make the utmost use of the gifts they have to further their evil ends. Shall those who pro-fess to fight God's cause allow to lie dormant the precious powers .God has entrusted to them? Every religious should occasionally meditate on Our Lord's parable of the talents. If we have been ¯ given even only one, we are expected to wbrk with it and show proper increase. A good way of acting would be that suggested in the saying attributed to St. Ignatius: Work as, if all depends on you; pray as if all depends on God. The use of nature to the advantage of the supernatural in the various ways suggested above should not surprise us who realize that ,our God has lifted even matter to be an ally of grace. In our sac- 147 JOSEPH P. FISHER ramental' system, Water, bread and wine, and oil are wondrously dignified by the part they play in the bestowal of grace on men. And even apart from the sacraments it is rather amazing how the Creator has mysteriously decreed not only that "for the most part men be saved by men" but that often even material things have an important part in a man's salvation or damnation. The speed of a car, the presence of blood plasma, the right drug. at hand may give the time. required to baptize or absolve a soul in need. Even if it is not explicitly said, it is sometimes implied, that any kind of trust in nature will lead to an.attitude of self-sufficiency and pride. There. is no good reason why this should be so. Is 'not ,God the Creator of nature as well as the Author of grace? Are not His natural gifts gifts? Can we not say in regard to the goods of nature which God has bestowed on us what the Blessed Virgin said in the Magnificat: "He who is mighty has done great things for me and holy is his name." Surely a man must crush the inordinate in nature but he should be careful lest in doing so he also spoil what is good.- Since God took upon Himself our nature there has been a truly wonderful union between nature and grace. And God wishes us to respect and cherish this union. May we not elevate the thought of the poet Coleridge and apply his words to our matter: He pra~etb best, tvbo lovetb best All the'rigs both great and small; For the dear God who lovetb us, He made and lovetb all. (Rime of the Ancient Mariner 11. 614-617)., NEW RI:VIEW OF SPIRITUALITY Cbristus is tb~ title of a new review of spirituality directed by the French Fa-thers of the Society of Jisus. The first number is entirely devoted to "Christ Our Lord"--with a number of articles that are ~emarkable for'their doctrine, historical information, and modernity. The purpose of the review is not to promote the spirituality of a "school," but rather to perform a service for consecrated souls, re-gardless of the spiritual family to which they belong, by opening up a source of spirituality which our present Holy Father called one of the most efficacious for the spiritual regeneration of the world. The price of this new quarterly is 700 ft. per year in France; 900 ft. for foreign subscribers. Address: Christus, 15, rue Monsieur, Paris (7e)~ France. 148 New I:::dit:ion of :he Li :t:le Ot:t:ice Adam C. Ellis, S.J. THE Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary was long a favorite devotion of pious layfolk, especially in England, where there were two versions of "Mary's Hours" current as far back as the eleventh century. Today many of the laity use the Little Office as their daily prayer in honor of Mary. It is part of the rule for Dominican, Carmelite, and Augustinian Tertiaries, and Franciscan Tertiaries are exhorted, though not obliged, to say it. Many mem-ber~ of the various Sodalities of Our Lady recite the Little Office daily as a matter of devotion. This office is called "Little" to distinguish it from the "Great" or Divine Office, which is recited daily by all clerics in major orders, by many religious orders of men, and by most communities of cloistered nuns. Many religious conoregations of sisters and broth-ers established during the nineteenth century and later have adopted the Little Office as their special" form of common prayer and recite it daily in whole or in part (for instance, Vespers and Compline), .or at least on Sundays and holydays. Some who are prevented by the nature of their work from assembling together at a fixed time recite the Little Office privately. A" feature article in L'Osseroatore Romano for March 17 an-nounced the publication of a new edition in Latin and German of the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Fortunately, we have at hand a copy "of this new version; and it seems to us that our readers might welcome some information about it. Papal Approval of New Texf The text of the new edition of the Little Office announced in L'Osseruatore Romano was prepared by Father Augustine Bea, S.J., professor at the Pontifical Biblical Institute (of which he was rector for many years) and a Consultor of the Sacred Congregation of Rites. The work was done at the request of the Teaching Sisters of the Holy Cross, a congregation of Franciscan Sisters whose mother house is,located, at Menzingen, Switzerland. It was to the mother general of these Sisters that Pope Plus XII wrote the following let-ter, which approves the new Little Office and which is printed as an introduction to the text: 149 ADAM C. ELLIS To Our beloved daughter in Christ, greetings and Apostolic Bene-diction. ,The fervent devotion of the faithful to Mary, the Most Blessed Mother of God, besides many other exercises of piety, has also in-cluded for many centuries, that practice by which the same Mother of God is especially honored, namely the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This pious practice has increased in recent times, since in man~ religious congregatons of brothers and sisters its daily recitation is already prescribed by the constitutions, a prescription which indeed is worthy of the highest, praise. And so it happens. that souls dedicated to God daily propose to themselves for imita-tion the glorious virtues of the same Blessed Virgin, especially her inviolable purity and unimpaired virginity; and by this pious dailg homage they secure for themselves more efficaciously Mary's moth-erIy care and most powerful protection. Furthermore, this same recitation of the Marian Office unites them closely with the liturgical life of the Church and with the Divine'Office of the priests. Especially now in our days this love of the sacred liturgy, re-markably increased through the inspiriztion of the Holy Spirit, has also aroused a stronger desire in not a feu~ of those who daily recite these Marian prayers that they be even more closet~t connected uJith the Church's solemnities and feasts than is possible with the form of the Little Office which has been found in the Roman Breviary since the time of Our Predecessor, St. Pius V. Therefore, with special pleasure, We have learned that while you and your sisters have faith-fully desired to preserve the old and praiseworthy custom of reciting the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary, yet at the same time you cherish the pious wish to have a fuller participation in the liturgical life of the Church, and that you have therefore carefully seen to it that a somewhat expanded edition of the Little Office be prepared, which is adapted more closely to the times and feasts of the liturgical year. Since We have a certain hope that this your holy fidelity to the centuries-old tradition of religious congregations will bring about for you from day to day the greater favor and blessing of the Mother of God, and also that your love for the sacred liturgy will produce in you new and precious fruits of the spiritual life, We gladly permit you, and other congregations who may so desire, to use this new edition of the Little Office of Mary in your daily reci: tation. May the Apostolic Blessing which We impart to you gladly in 150 May, 1954 LITTLE OFFICE Our Lord, dear daughter, and to all the members of ~lour congrega-tion, be a tohen of Our paternal beneoolence. Giuen at Rome, at St. Peter's, March 12. 1953, in the fifteenth ~/ear of Our Pontificate. POPE PIUS XII Use of the New Text This approval of the Holy Father grants members of religious congregations of brothers and sisters who are now reciting the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin by reason of their constitutions or by custom the permission to substitute this new Latin text for the old text approved by Pope Saint Plus V for the entire Church and which is printed in the back of the Roman Breviary. The firm of Marietti, Via Legnano 23, Turin, Italy, issued the first printing of the new text in a combined Latin-German text in December, 1953, and has the sole right of publication. According to the article which appeared in L'Osseruatore, a Latin text by it-self was then in press, and should be available by now. Transla-tions into English, French, and Italian will follow shortly, from the same press. (The Newman Press, Westminster, Maryland, is the agent for Marietti in this country.) Use in the Vernacular The Holy Father approved both the Latin text and the accom-panying German text for the Sisters of the Holy Cross of Men-zingen. They evidently have been reciting the Little Office in Ger-man with special permission. May other religious congregations use any one of the translations to be issued by Marietti without further permission? Some distinctions must be made: (1) As was stated above, any religious congregation now reciting the Little Office in Latin, may at once make use of tl~e new Latin version without ~r-tber permission. (2) Any religious congregation now reciting the Little Office in the vernacular with proper permission, may at once make use of the new text in the vernacular as published by Mari-etti; any other translation of the new Latin text must have the ap-proval of their own local ordinary before it may be used. (3) Any religious congregation now reciting the Little Office in Latin by reason of a prescription of its constitutions, may not change from Latin to the vernacular without permission from the proper au-th6rity: (a) the local Ordinary in the case of a diocesan congrega-tion, since he has the power t~ change their constitutions; (b) tile 151 t ADAM C. ELLIS Sacred Congregation of Religious in the case of a pontifical congre-gation, since only the Holy See can change constitutionk approved by it. This permission should be bequested by a general chapter. " Special Features The new edition of the Little Of}ice of the Blessed Virgin has the following, characteristics: 1. For the Latin text of the psalms it follows theVatican Psalter, a new translation of the Book of Psalms prepared at the Biblical Institute, made prir~cipally from the Hebrew Masoretic text, and approved for optional use in his Motu Proprio In cotidianis precibus by Pope Plus XII, on March 21, 1945. For the German text the psalms are taken from Deutscber Psalter, edited by Romano Guardini, with the permission of the publishers, "K6sel-Verlag." 2. The text is arranged for and adapted to six exact liturgical seasons of the ecclesiastical year: Advent, ChriStmas, Lent, Passion-tide, Eastertide, and the time after Pentecost, with special lessons for each season. 3. The new text has the special antiphons (for the Magnificat and Berledictus) and the proper orations for the more prominent general feasts of the year: Circumcision, Epiphany, St. Joseph, As-cension, Pentecost, Corpus Christi, Sacred Heart, Sts. Peter and Paul, and All Saints; also for the Commemoration of All Souls; likewise for many particular feasts of Our Lady: Immaculate Con-ception; Purification, Annunci'ation, Visitation, Assumption,, Im-maculate Heart, Nativity of "Our Lady, Holy Name of Mary, Seven Sorrows (both feasts), Holy Rosary, Maternity, and Presentation. 4. During Advent the special "O" antiphons are used at Ves-pers on the eight days preceding the vigil of Christmas. For the last three days of Holy Week the Office is conformed to the rubrics, and the Christus factus est :is added to each hour. Conclusion ~ Religious communities of sisters and brothers ~vho have been reciting the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mar~ in common by direction of their constitt(tions or by custom will welcome this new edition of the text, brought up to date to conform wih the spirit of the modern litu[gical movement, and approved for them by ,Our , Holy Father. 152 /V ore abou!: Secular Ins!:i!:ut:es Francis N. Korth, S.J. DIRECTORS of souls and others who come in contact with possible vocations will be interested in some information about secular institutes that are actually existing in the United States and Canada and about other groups that have hopes of be-coming secular institutes at some later date if everything works out all right. It happens at times that a religious is approached by a boy or girl who seems to have a clear call to a special practic~ of the evangelical counsels while remaining in the world; it seems to be a vocation to the life led by ~embers of secular institutes. Unfortu-nately little information of practical use has been published for helping such prospective vocations make the necessary contact with individuals who would be in a bett~r position to advise them. The present article is intended to obviate this difficulty to some extent. To this end some items about a number of groups that either are secular institutes or are on the way to possibly developing into secu-lar institutes will be given. It is understandable that in such a highly specialized vocation great care must be taken in admitting candidates; a certain amount ot~ lack of publicity could be a safe-guard. On the other hand, it also seems desirable to have some in-formation about existing groups made available among those who could be of help to candidates having a true vocation to that'type of life. Existing Secular Institutes" Among the few secular institutes existing in the United States ¯ (as far as is known), the first to be mentioned is the pioneer in this country, the Opus Dei. Opus Dei (whose full title is: Sacerdotal Society of the Holy Cross and Opus Dei) was founded in Madrid, Spain, on October 2, 1928, by Monsignor Jos~ Maria Escrivfi 'de Balaguer. Its members make som~ studies in philosophy and, the-ology; some'later go on to the priesthood. A women's branch of Opus Dei (distinct from that of the men) was begun in 1930; this is a completely separate secular institute. For the most part the gov-ernment is in the hinds of the lay members; priest members act inca spiritual kapacity, though some high offices usually are held by priests. The purpose of Opus Dei is to enable its members, while 153 FRANCIS N. KORTH Review for Religious living in the world, to achieve personal p~rfection through the prac-tice of the evangelical counsels and to spread the life of Christian perfection among all classes, especially among those whose profes-sions or positions permit a great influence on society. Opus Dei was the first secular institute to obtain papal approval (decree of praise on February 24, 1947) and the first to receive definitive papal ap-proval (on June 16, 1950). Today Opus Dei has about two hundred houses in various parts of the world; it numbers members from more than thirty countries. In the United States a house of the men's branch has been in exist-ence in Chicago for a number of years (address: 5544 Woodlawn Ave., Chicago 37, Illinois); during the past two years a house of the women's branch has also been set up there (address: 4944 Woodlawn Ave., Chicago 37, Illinois). Since November, 1953, a house of the men's branch has been located at Boston (address: 22 Marlborough St., Boston, Mass~achusetts). At present in the United States there is no diocesan priests' branch. It is of special interest to note that initial steps, in God's providence possibly leading to the honors of the altar, have been taken regarding one of the former members of Opus Dei, Isidoro Zorzano by name, a man in an ordinary profession in the world (he was a railroad construc-tion engineer). His story is told by Daniel Sargent in God's En-gineer. Besides Opus Dei a second secular institute has been given the definitive approval by the Holy See (August 3, 1953) ; it is the in-stitute known as the Missionaries of the Kingship of Christ. This group ~was started at Assisi, Italy, on November 19, 1919, by Father Agostino Gemelli, O.F.M. It is an association of women, with the purpose of dedication to Christian perfection through the observance of the evangelical counsels and of dedication to the lay apostolate of spreading the Kingdom of Christ according to the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi. All members of this secular institute are also members of the Third Order of St, Francis. There is an active section and an oblate section. While no particular aposto-late is undertaken, the members place themselves at the disposal of the Church; members of the active section serve where superiors want to use them. The activities are varied: helping the poor and the sick, operating protective organizations, taking special interest in fostering the liturgical apostolate, encouraging adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in churches, and other works. Candidates might 154 May, 1954 SECULAR INSTITUTES qualify if they, are convinced that they wish to live for Christ, are available for an active apostolate, and are engaged in work that as-sures independence. Applicants should be between the ages of twenty-one and thirty-five, should be in good health, and should realize the need of daily Mass, Holy Communion,and meditation. This institute has three branches: one for men, a second for women (separately organized but .with the same constitutions the men's branch has), and a third for diocesan priests in as far as compatible with their loyalty to their bishop. Lay members may live in their own homes or anywhere they choose. The government, except for the priests' branch, is in the hands of lay persons. An American foundation of this institute exists in Washington, D.C. (Address communications to: Rev. Stephen J. Hartdegen, O.F.M., Holy Name College, 14th and Shepherd Streets, N.E., Washington 17, D.C.) The institute has spread extensively in the country of its origin, besides branching out into four or five other countries; its total membership is probably about four thousand. In 1926 at Schoenstatt, Germany, under the guidance of Father Joseph Kentenich, S.A.C., the Schoenstatt Sisters of Mary of the Catholic Apostolate had their origin. (The word "sisters" is a German title used by all engaged in social work and does not here mean religious sisters in the canonical sense.) The members of this group dedicate themselves fully to a practice of evangelical perfec-tion and the apostolate through a specifically Marian and apostolic formation of modern women in order to aid the spiritual renewal of the world in Christ through Mary. This secular institute for wom-en is part of the general Schoenstatt Apostolic Movement with its various circles and groups, in accordance with the central idea of a universal apostolate--all fields of activity, all persons, everywhere. Some of the varied activities performed by this group include teach-ing, conducting hospitals, acting as home visitors, helping in par-ishes as teachers of children and converts, acting as social workers. The institute nt~mbers close to two thousand today and is spread over five continents. Contact with this group can be made at the following address in this country: New Schoenstatt, R.R. 5, Madi-son 4, Wisconsin. On June 30, 1950, the decree of praise was bestowed by the Holy See on a secular institute known as the Company of St. Paul. Growing out of a Catholic Action activity, this group was started by Cardinal Ferrari at Milan, Italy, on November 17, 1920, as a religious community with a common rule of life. It received the 155 FRANCIS N. KORTH Reuieu~ for Religious name of Companyof~ St. Paul in 1924. A decree of recognition and approval of its rule was received from the Holy See on July 1, 1942. In 1949 the Company of St. Paul was_ included under the new rulings of the Piooida Mater Ecclesia. Besides the pursuit of perfection through the practice of the .evangelical counsels, the pur-pose of this institute is to promote a more efficacious collaboration of clergy and laity in the establishment of the reign of Christ in modern society, both in individuals and in social institutions. Each of the three sections (for.priests, for laymen, and for laywomen) has its own superior, but all are united under one general head cho-sen from the section for priests. Some work is being done in this country by this institute, although no foundation ~xists as yet. (A contact address could be furnished on request.) Another group which has no foundation at present in America, but which has some solid hope of realizing such a foundation in due time (initial steps have been taken), is the Institute of Ou.r Lady of Life. Following the Discalced Carmelite spirituality, this secular institute was started by Father Marie-Eugene, O.C.D., in 1932 near Venasque, France. The element of dedication to the con-templative life in the world, of the silent apostolate of edification, of being witnesses to Christ either through individual activity or through works proper to the institute is the characteristic note of this organization. Any appropriate kind of work is permitted to the members; some are engaged in teaching, others in social work or various walks of public life. This institute received diocesan ap-proval in France several years ago., " The foregoing are the secular institutes known to have founda-tions or at least representatives in this country. Groups in Process of Deuetopment Besides established secular institutes, a number, of other groups in this country and in Canada are in the process of possibly devel-oping into future secular institutes. An organization which has obtained approval (as a "pious union") in two dioceses in France and in one in Canada is caIled the Daughters of St. Catherine of Siena. This group was founded in France in 1947~ by Father Thomas Deman, O.P. The Dominican spirituality is followed. Formation of the members takes place in convents of the Dominican Sisters of the Congregation of St. Cath-erine of Siena. At present all American members are affiliated with the Canadian foundation; a house in the United States is desired. 156 Ma~t, 1054 SECULAR INSTITUTES Canada has a very flourishing association of this kind which is in the process of possible development into a secular institute. Its purpose is dedication to evangelical perfection and tb an apostolate in the world according to the principle, "Caritas Christi per Mari-am" (the Charity of Christ through Mary). The apostolate is being carried on in Canada; foreign mission work is a possibility. This associaton has over twenty-two groups with about two hun-dred members, many of whom practice a profession. .Members are trained to live alone; personal responsibility is cultivated. The growth of this group has been phenomenal. A number of smaller groups are in lesser stages of development in this country. One such group is at present engaged in the home care and guidance of teen-age boys, and envisions eventual apostolic work in career-counseling, information services, engaging in Church public relations, personnel service in staffing Catholic organizations, and obtaining positions in other institutions. Another group, based upon the Benedictine way of life, is dedi-cated to the rural lay apostolate of helping pastors in their work for souls in needy rural areas. A third group has adopted St. Francis de Sales as its patron in its general apostolate of helping the pastor of a parish; under his direction such help might take the shape of visiting families in the p.arish, talking with persons about going to the sacraments and having their babies baptized, the promotion of retreats and da.y,s of recollection and the like. Still another group is dedicated to an apostolate of service in discovering and developing a Christian culture primarily through work in the poorest and most needy parishes; a member might fill in temporarily for a teacher who is sick or might help to clean the church or do other tasks. In such groups provision is made of course for fostering the spiritual life of the members. In at ,least several of them the breviary is recited in English. Since members usually support themselves in their regular professions or positions or jobs, they are accustomed to work. In one group eight hours of work per day is expected of each regular member. To help meet the financial problem in another of these organizations, the smaller groupings will have three or four members, with one earning the income for the group and the others devoting their full time to the works of the institute without re-muneration. All of these groups are still in the formative stage; as such they also usually are small in number for the time being. When further development is realized, expansion would be desirable. Besides these developing groups, there are several other, tentative 157 FRANCIS N. KORTH Reoiew for Religious groups in the early stages of thought, Possibly there are many more. If anyone in a responsible position cares to send in more information for publication about one of the groups already mentioned, or about others, such information would receive due consideration for pos-sible publication in this REVIEW. A goodly number of priests are quite interested in these new institutes because of the possibilities of their apostolate. Some priests are helping groups to develop; others direct or prepare possible candidates for some such group. One priest, for exampIe, becomes weIl acquainted with young people in the retreats he conducts; then, having knowledge of exist!ng secular institutes or associations in the stage of development, he is in a posi-tion to aid likely candidates and channel them to one of the groups existing in various parts of America. The Nagoya Group After, considering the various known secular institutes and the developing groups in our own country and in Canada, our readers might be interested in knowing something about a secular institute which has been established in Nagoya, Japan. This move is con-sidered of historical impc~rtance, according to one newspaper ac-count, because "it represents something entirely new in the history of mission countries." .The problem of catechists and lay apostles in Japan had become vital owing to the increasing number of catechumens. At the same time a large number of young women were yearni~ng to consecrate themselves entirely to a life of perfection and of the apostolate. As a result various bands of catechists worked in" different ~places. Four years ago, undef the inspiration and guiding hand of a missionary, Father'George Gemeinder, S.V.D., women catechists were grouped together for the purpose of forming a future secular institute. On January 28 of this year (1954), the Secular Insntute of the Cate-chists of Our Lady, Virgin and Mother, received the nihil obstat from Rome in regard to its constitutions; the institute was then established by the Prefect Apostolic of Nagoya, Monsignor Peter Matsuoka, on February 11, 1954. The first year of novitiate was scheduled to open on the Feast of the Annunciation, March 25, 1954. One of the women members has been made "Inchosama," which is a general term for "head of the house" or superior. Father Gemeinder acts as director; Father Anthony Zimmerman, S.V.D., is wce-dlrector. The purpose of this institute is to help the needs of the missions. 158 May, 1954 SECULAR INSTITUTES Among the varied forms of the apostolate in which members might be ~ngaged would be included the following: acting as full-time catechists at various mission stations; assisting existing organizations in the locality: acting as .teachers, hospital workers, and the like; being employed in a professional field. Candidates should have the necessary physical, mental, and so-cial qualities for carrying on the.work of the institute. After a pos-. tulancy and novitiate, during which a solid'training in spiritual mat-ters is given to help them lay a firm foundation for a life of personal perfection and for a fruitful apostolate, the members take the vows of poverty, chastity,, and obedience proper to their institute and,a promise under oath to devote themselves to the apostolate. In car-rying on their apostolic work, members might live individually or at times in community. This gives some idea of the new secular institute at Nagoya. As its name implies, stress is placed upon catechetical training and work --an all-important apostolate in a country in which so many souls have not yet heard the message Christ came to preach. Conclusion As a conclusion to these statistics on secular institutes, it might be interesting to mention the secular institutes which are listed in the Annuario Ponti[icio for 1953 as being institutes of pontifical right. On pages 832-833 four secular institutes for men are thus listed. They are the Company of St. Paul (originated in Italy), Opus Dei (originated in Spain), the Priest Workers of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Spain), and the Society of the Heart of Jesus (France). For women fi've such institutes are given on page. 1233: the Daughters of the Queen of the Apostles (Trent), the Teresian Institute (Mad-rid), the Missionaries of the Kingship of Our Lord Jesus-Christ (Milan), the Institute of Our Lady of Work (Paris), and the Women's Section of Opus Dei (Madrid). PLENARY INDULGENCE FOR SEVEN SORROWS BEADS At the request of the Prior General of the Order of the Servants of Mary (Servites), His Holiness, Pope Plus XII. on December 19, 1953, kindly granted a plenary indulgence to be gained by the faithful who, after confession and Holy Communion, devoutly recite the beads of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary, before the Blessed Sacrament of tbe Altar, wbether publicly exposed or re-served in the tabernacle. (Acta Apostolicae Sedis, February 16, 1954, p. 73.) 159 NATURE AND GRACE. By Matthlas Joseph Scheeben. Translated by Cyril Vollert, S.J. Pp. xxlv ~ 361. B. Herder Book Co., St. Lou~s, 1954. $4.~s. With the Publication of this work in 1861 the author took his first step on the path which brought him to the forefront of the theologians of his day. In it be set out to treat the central theme of his thought--the super~natural and its place in the life of the Chris-tian. Around this thought his treatise is built and on it the em-phasis is constantly placed. This is not a textbook but a readable treatise which has been put into flowing English. Scheeben not only knew the great Scholastic writers but be was also well versed in the Fathers of the Church, both Western and Eastern. With such an equipment he manages to make clear many difficult concepts and doctrines. We are thus treated not merely to a fine doctrinal exposition but also to a stirring appeal to realize our destiny. Parts, if not all, of the book will serve well for spiritual read-ing. Thus, after a thorough explanation of man's spiritual nature, of sanctifying grace and the supernatural order, there follows'a care-ful explanation of the acts of the supernatural life, particularly faith, hope, and charity. The climax is an enthusiastic description of the union of nature and grace in the supernatural acts. --AUGUSTIN C. WAND, S.J. Books abou Mary A book of exceptional value is PAPAL PRONOUNCEMENTS ON MARY, compiled and arranged by the Right Rev. Msgr. William J. Doheny, C.S.C., and the Rev. Joseph P. Kelly. It contains transla-tions of the principal papal statements about Mary from Pius IX to Pius XII. Included are the texts of Ineffabilis Deus and Muni£- centissfmus Deus, defining the dogmas of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption respectively, and the very beautiful encyclical of Plus X, Ad Diem Illum. This is the best kind of spiritual read-ing about the Mother of God. (Milwaukee, Wis.: The Bruce Pub-lishing Company, 1954. Pp. x -t- 270. $4.50.) 160 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS MEDITATIONS AND INSTRUCTIONS ON THE BLESSED VIRGIN, by the Rev. Arthur Vermeersch, S.J., is a reprint of a work pub-lished in the early part of the century and translated by W. Hum-phrey Page, K.S.G. The meditations and instructions are intended for the use of both clergy and laity. Volume I contains meditations for each of the feasts of Mary, a novena for the Feast of the Im-maculate Conception, a novena to obtain devotion to Mary, and meditations for the month of May. Volume II has a meditation for each Saturday of the year, as well as a supplement with meditations for various feasts. (Westminster, Md.: The Newman Press, 1954. Pp. I." xxiv + 438; II: xv + 468. $7.50 per "set.) The Rev. A. Biskupek, S.V.D., offers readings and reflections on OUR LADY'S LITANY. This is a good book for meditation during May, October, or any other time during the Marian Yea[. Helpful reflections are provided for each invocation of the Litany of Loreto. The author will be remembered for his three volumes of conferences on the rite of ordination. (Milwaukee, Wis.: The Bruce Publishing Company, 1954. Pp. vi + 166. $2.75.) MARY C~OD'S MASTERPIECE features sixty-two reproductions of paintings of Our Lady in full color, with appropriate texts from the Sacred Scriptures and the Liturgy~ The the Redemptorist Fathers as a Marian-Year Mother. It is a real work of art, an attractive Year. (New York, N.Y.: Perpetual Help $2.00.) The latest of his many writings about book was prepared by tribute to the Blessed souvenir of the Marian Press, 1954. Pp. the Blessed Mother is THE SONG OF THE ROSARY, by Daniel A. Lord, S.J. The book covers each of the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary in a style which the author himself explains in his own inimitable way: "I found that I could not possibly confine in simple prose the context of what I had to write or the emotions needed to accompany the writing. So I adopted a sort of natural rhythm that is not prose and yet not strictly analyzable poetry. Call it what you wis,h; I call it simply a rhythm." (St. Louis, Mo: The Queen's Work, 1953. Pp. 399. $4.00.) BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS [For the most part, these notices are purely descriptive, based on a cursory exam-ination of the books listed.] AVE MARIA PRESS, Notre Dame, Indiana. Patch Scatters Culture. By Patrick J. Carroll, C.S.C. This is 161 I~OOK ANNOUNCEMENTS Review for Religious the fourth of Father Carroll's books about Patch. The first was published almost twenty-five years ago. It was, as one reviewer said of it, "one of the happiest, brightest, most vivacious stories of a boy's life that one could wish to read." Of the author, the same re-viewer said: "Father Carroll has the gift of spinning a story and filling it with humor and wisdom. His dialogue is even more sprightly than his narrative." The story-telling gift; and espe-cially the realistic, Irish-flavored dialogue are still ~manifest in this fourth volume which continues the reminiscences of Patch and con-cludes with an Epilogue about how Patch, now a priest, visited his homeland. "And so happy memories to you," the Epilogue con-cludes; and one who knows Father Carroll can even hear him say it. Pp. 223. $2.75. BEAUCHESNE, R

Issue 60.2 of the Review for Religious, 2001. ; Making Connections Livin g S p i r i tu ally C o,mmunjty Living Refl:ections MARCH APRIL 2001 VOLUME 60 NUMBER 2 Review for Religious helps people respond and be faithful to God's universal call to boliness by making available to them the spiritual legacies tbat flow from the cbarisms :of Catholic consecrated life. Review for Religious (ISSN 0034-639X) is published bimonthly at Saint Louis Universi .t-y by the Jesuits of the Missouri Province. Editorial Office: 3601 Lindell Boulevard ¯ St. Louis, Missouri 63108-3393 Telephone: 314-977-7363 ¯ Fax: 314-977-7362 E-Mail: review@slu.edu ° \Veb site: u~'w.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 Mount St. Mary'~ Seminaw; Emmitsburg, Maryland 21727 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. ©2001 Review for Religious Perlnission is herewith granted to copy any material (articles, poems, reviews) coutained 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 distribu-tion, 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. 0 for religious LIVING OUR CATHOLIC LEGACIES Editor Associate Editors Canonical Counsel Editor Editorial Staff Advisory Board David L. Fleming SJ Clare Boehmer ASC Philip C. Fischer SJ Elizabeth McDonough OP Mary Ann Foppe Tracy Gramm ¯ Judy Sharp " James and Joan F~lling Adrian Gaudin SC Sr. Raymond Marie Gerard FSP Joel Rippinger OSB Bishop Carlos AI Sevilla SJ Patricia Wittberg sC MARCH APRIL 2001 VOLUME 60 NUMBER 2 118 139 Feeding the Beast: Postmodern Anxiety and Generational Challenges Christopher Robinson CM reflects on the question "Who are you and what do you mean?" asked by a postmodern consciousness or sensibility. Community and Communion: Making the Connections Doris Gottemoeller RSM presents four dimensions of a powerful analogy between Eucharistic life and religious community life that sheds light on both and shows between them a common spirituality. 152 Contemplatiori to Attain Love: A Paradigm for Apostolic Prayer Gerald M. Fagin sJ explains the four points of the final exercise in the Ignatian Exercises as a description of the prayer of an active minister. 162 What to Know about Discernment Ernest E. Larkin OCarm provides a succinct explanation of the cognitive, affective, and mystical ways of evaluating our experiences which we identify as discernment. Review for Religious 171 179 Apostolic Community in the Assumptionist/Augustinian Tradition John L. Franck AA sees, with St. Augustine, that religious communities work to shape our very lives and thus our very work in the world. Mission and Community in the Neighborhood: A Personal Reflection Catherine M. Harmer MMS shares her experience of being a religious community m(rnber living and participating in the community and ministry of neighborhoods. 187 196 201 Taking the Psalms to Heart Francis Dorff OPraem walks us reflectively through St. Romuald's Brief Rule so that we may live the psalms wholeheartedly. The Cross of Auschwitz: A Lenten Reflection Dennis J. Billy CSSR enters us into the silence of Auschwitz and its mystery of evil met by the mystery of the cross. The World Will Be Saved by Beauty Joan L. RoccasalvoCSJ revives, in ways both simple and subtle, an awareness of, a yearning for, the several transcendentals that have their warm, bright oneness in God. epzr me s 116 Prisms 206 Canonical Counsel: Incorporation into an Institute of Consecrated Life or a Society of Apostolic Life 212 Book Reviews March-April 2001 As John Paul II closed the holy doors at St. Peter's in Rome on January 6, the day that the Jubilee of the Year 2000 ended, he issued an apostolic letter titled "At the Beginning of the New Millennium." Similar to the apostolic letter issued in November 1994, "As the Third Millennium Draws Near," this letter challenges all Catholic people in the everyday practice of their faith. The pope acknowledges that in the first letter it was easy to name specific themes and suggest certain practices as he outlined a program of preparation for us Catholics as we looked towards the new millennium. Now that we are living in the new millennium, it appears more difficult to suggest some sort of schedule for a seemingly unending roll of future years. Not to be daunted, the pope sums up his approach in his call to contemplate the face of Christ, with the manifold ways that this face appears to us in all life's circumstances. He grants that he is not inventing some kind of new program, but rather looking afresh at the program found in the Gospels and in the living tradition of the church. What receives strong emphasi~ is the pope's desire for us to make our own a spirituality of communion. This phrase, spirituality of communion, the pope had identified in his 1994 ap6stolic letter, Vita consecrata, as describing the mission especially appropriate to Review for Religious members of consecrated-life institutes. No matter the charism that specifies the mission of particular religious lifeforms, the pope had requested that all men and women vowed in conse-crated life embrace a spirituality of communion. Religious were encouraged to consciously work at a communion spirituality as an essential part of the gospel spirituality which all share. This spir-ituality of communion needs to inform their community life and their mission. By his extension of the call to a spirituality of communion to others, John Paul II has not taken away his invitation to those living the consecrated lifeform to be grounded in a spirituality of communion. Proclaiming now that all Catholics have a respon-sibility to work at developing this spirituality of communion for our times, the pope underlines a special charge for those vowed in consecrated life to both educate and form others in the Catholic community to understand and live this spirituality of communion. He tells us that this effort will make the church "the home and school of communion." Such creative energy is a spirituality that enhances our awareness of the trinitarian God dwelling within us and embracing us with a divine life of communion. It is a spirituality that makes come alive our real-ization of the mystical Body in which we see our brothers and sisters truly living a life that is "part of us." It is a spirituality that brings us to see and appreciate the gifts of others not only as gifts from God to them, but also as gifts from God and them to us. It is a spirituality that teaches us how to make room for all our brothers and sisters, so that we truly exclude no one from the table of God our Father and accept what it means to bear one another's burdens. What is so often lacking in the services that are provided secularly (and perhaps we need to examine our own ministries too) is not the actual "body'-' of services but the "soul" people must put into those services. We must take any "mechanisms" of service and put a soul into them, a soul that gives them full meaning through fullness of communion. In a postmodern culture, a wise and holy man has proposed linking our Catholic growth in holiness with the special needs of our new millennium. The spirituality of communion he proposes is a privileged and relevant way of imitating Jesus, our incarnate and redeeming Lord. David L. Fleming Sy March-April 2001 CHRISTOPHER ROBINSON Feeding the Beast: Postmodern Anxiety, and Generational Challenges A little story in Charles Lamert's 1997 book on post-modernism seems pertinent to many current discussions on the past, present, and future of religious life: One fine morning the residents of a small village woke to find a very big but not unfriendly beast well settled in the center of their small town and mundane lives. Being by nature trusting and kind, the people repressed fear and welcomed the beast. In spite of its enormous height and girth, and the mass of its settled flesh, the beast posed no threats. All he did, in the most matter-of-fact way, was say "Feed me." The villagers complied. Upon devour-ing what he had been fed, he simply repeated his demand, without inflection, "Feed me." Eventually, without vote or complaint, feeding the beast came to be what the village was about.' Concern about the future of religious life and its unique contribution to the church has been around for as long as I can remember. It has become, for some of us, an all-too-real version of the village beast. Let me try to clarify just exactly what I mean. In the preface of her recent book Finding the Treasure, Sandra Schneiders says that "virtually every Christopher Robinson CM is completing a doctorate at Louvain with a focus on the theology of religious life. His address is Leopold I Straat 41; B-3000 Leuven; Belgium. Review for Religious question raised today leads directly into the issue of what religious life is and means.''2 The questions I raise here are directly related to what religious life actually is, as distinct from what religious may do. The question of meaning is related, as Schneiders shows, to the pervasive postmodernism in Western industrial countries. At least in the United States, this has affected the young people; they have been socialized from birth with a postmodern consciousness. Whether or not religious life in the West continues depends upon having a plausible description of it that is intelligible to those who are significantly affected by this consciousness. My hope is that either we can befriend these questions of being and meaning, our village beast, without constantly serving it or we can actually turn the tables. The village beast might be capable of feeding us. .What Is Our Village Beast? In the context in which I found it, the story of the not-unfriendly lumbering beast refers to the effect that some ques-tions of meaning have upon the people who entertain them: "Before long, it grows to become that which preoccupies, even defines, the villages.''3 Today many of us are preoccupied with the nature and meaning of religious life. The question of who we are and what meaning we offer to the church and the world is not a non-friendly one, even if it is consuming our energies. It is not non-friendly because postmodernism, the sensibility operative in the West, is not by its nature hostile. Though postmodernism has been defined in many ways and will continue to present itself as a sensibility worth studying, here I wish to highlight its more pos-itive attributes without discounting negative ones. Postmodernism is playful, it deligt]ts in the unique, it is non-linear. It is suspicious of universals and of supposed evolutionary trajectories that are bound to arrive at bigger and better things. For it, there is no self-evident center of all meaning. Postmodern sen-sibility distrusts global institutionalization and celebrates nonuni-formity. Intrinsically pluralistic, it rejects exclusivist claims and triumphalist truth statements. Schneiders emphasizes three postmodern characteristics that are necessary for locating religious life in the contemporary con-text. She says that postmodernism is "a child of and a protest against modernity.''4 In other words, postmodern sensibility rejects the unifying yet reductionist approach of modernity that subjects March-April 2001 Robinson ¯ Feeding the Beast reality to what can be proven, manipulated, or categorized by an objective scientific method. Postmodernism is radically conscious of how science has both enhanced human life and brought enor-mous risks to it and the environment. It insists that modernity has not lived up to its claims of creating a better world through rationality. Second, Schneiders points out that the postmodern con-sciousness has eroded or simply refused to acknowledge the foun-dations upon which many modern projects have risen: "Who is to say that any construction of reality, any set of beliefs or mode of behavior, has universal validity and therefore any claim on me?''s On the negative side, this position means that postmodern thought is relativistic. On the positive side, postmodern thought has effec-tively eroded the foundations of ethnic hatred, anthropocentrism, sexism, and so forth. Third, postmodernism rejects the idea that there is a grand story, a metanarrative, that can provide universal meaning for all people of all times in all places. The metanarrative purports to present the ideal of what all people should be; persons who are not in the story are hounded until they come around to the group's way of thinking. Postmodernism's suspicion of the grand story subverts such use of force to make all people over into a general-ized image, an image devoid of particularity or difference. On the negative side, postmodern consciousness may produce alienation because no acceptable common story bridges the distances between people.6 Meaning and Being Our village beast is more complicated than the brief question "Who are you and what do you mean?" The beast is this ques-tion as asked by a postmodern consciousness or sensibility. The question threatens because many religious congregations and communities (if not all) are firmly rooted in modernity, not post-modernity. Consequently, the beast appears threatening but is not unfriendly. The postmodern question is really not unfriendly because postmodernism is not necessarily antagonistic and may be favor-able. For example, postmoderns are captivated by the unusual, and what could be more unusual in the contemporary world than a life characterized by celibacy? Postmoderns reject the negative Review for Religious and sometimes disastrous effects of metanarratives because meta-narratives envision all people as the same. Religious men and women have a similar view that often puts them on the margins of society for rejecting metanarrative rhetoric that would keep the alienated far from the resources they require for self-actual-ization and fulfillment. Such rhetoric includes the opinions that "if they would only work hard enough they wouldn't be poor" and "if they would stay at home and have children they wouldn't be harassed." Particularly in the Western world, certainly in the history of the United States, religious communities have consis-tently promoted human well-being through education, healthcare, and social service regardless of the creed of those receiving assistance. What could be more postmodern than that? Religious often find themselves in prophetic positions in relation to the univer-sal church. Such elements of decentralization are, in a way, the human side of the gospel message lived out through the charisms of particular communities made up of particular persons. The explicit goal, obviously, is not to decentralize the church. But the human face, voice, and touch provided by dedicated religious create a space in which people hear the gospel in unique and specific ways. Such efforts and understandings of decentralization are postmodern. So what is the problem? The postmod-ern phenomenon has entered our lives and, in a manner neither unfriendly nor always unattractive, asks: Who are you and what do you mean? The problem is that we continue to feed the beast, this lumbering postmodern.collection of con-tradictor~ images, with rationalizations that stem from modernity. Of course, feed it or not, it is not going to go away. The beast story describes the lives of the villagers as mun-dane. Postmoderns have critiqued modernity for exactly that, being boring and mundane. Universals are boring. Nondifferentiation has no room for distinctive and entertaining attributes. Whether or not the perception is true, the postmodern West sees religious men and women as being just like everyone else, and so we are largely Postmodernism rejects the idea that there is a grand story, a metanarrative, that can provide universal meaning for all people of all times in all places. March-April 2001 Robinson ¯ Feeding the Beast invisible. We have done a good job of assimilating and affirming the world. We live individual lives in individual ways in individual spaces. Postmodernism consciously ignores anything that is "the same" in favor, of the new, distinct, unusual, entertaining, distracting, and so forth. There is a dangerous .and antihuman element to this that includes consumerism, materialism, trivial distraction. There is also something of positive value. I have not claimed and would not and cannot claim that, because of postmodern consciousness, religious need to create distinctive-lifestyle enclaves that provoke the curiosity and interest of the others in society. To keep the postmodern sensi-bility entertained, we would have to have general chapters and assemblies adopting new gimmicks every six months. The question of our invisibility is, however, a serious one. Because postmod-ernism disdains rationalistic answers, seeing them as dank mush-rooms emerging from metanarratives, it is not going to wait for an explanation from us about our lifestyle. As soon as a religious begins, "Well, you have to understand that once upon a time the Second Vatican Council created a spirit of openness to the world that we as religious had forgotten," the postmodern mind closes down. Even for the educated young adult Catholic, Vatican II is "that great thing that happened sometime in the middle of the last century. Have you read it? The language is hopelessly gender exclusive." The revolutionary event that altered the course of religious life is now considered a metanar-rative from a time long past. Add to this that the same Vatican is now the source of documents like DominusJesus that remind every-one that there is only one true and universal Christian church. " Truth claims aside, such statements sound to the postmodern mind like metanarratives. Postmodernism is fast paced and will not wait for us to explain endlessly our being and meaning through solemn discourses, province plans, and mission statements. This is particularly true when the observable reality does not live up to the written ideology. We appear as more of "the same." Modernity Is Still Operational There is a certain logic to keeping our roots in modernity. First, our charisms, congregations, communities, and reforms are based on great stories, not the least of which are the gospel nar-ratives. Second, it is Vatican II that ushered us into the modern Review for Religious world. Ironically, it did so just as the world was on the brink of postmodernity. The call to return to the charism of the founder resulted in a great deal of historical research and theological reflection. Much of this was dependent upon the historical-crit-ical method that typifies modernity. Third, through our com-mitted lives we are striving in God's name to make the world a better place for everyone and everything. Without nuance this can be translated by radical postmoderns into a universalizing, nonparticularizing amalgamation of all peo-ple into one standard of living, one creed, and one political system. So the village beast that has lumbered into our midst is the postmodern question of being and meaning. It is a not-unfriendly thing, but it is a very intimidating, beastly thing. From the modernist perspective, reli-gious and their communities have welcomed the beast into their villages. It has been ana-lyzed, considered, weighed, measured, and .continuously fed with the best sociological, historical, and systematic information in the hope that it will remain docile or maybe even go away. But our numbers continue to shrink, morale among the membership is precarious, and questions about our congregations; future often preoccupy at least some of us. The popular perception today might be that feeding this beast is what we are all about. It seems we have'not found a solid faith-based solution to the vocation crisis through the human sciences--which, to the modern mind, have always served humanity well. Postmodernism is a sensibiiity. The West itself still operates according to the rationalism of the modern era and will most likely continue to do so, with some revision. And so we religious are challenged to find our own methods of drawing together the best of both expressions of reality: postmodern sensibility and the dependability of a reformed modernity. This is not as difficult as we may imagine--given our access to resources, the security of our traditions, the creativity among us, and the presence of the Spirit of God, who called us into being in the first place. The challenge, however, is to discover how the village beast, the ques-tion of being and meaning, has begun to create internal conflicts The village beast that has lumbered into our midst is the postmodern question of being and meaning. t23 -o- ~lqarcb-Aptql 2001 Robinson ¯ Feeding the Beast within congregations and communities, particularly between moderns and postmoderns. The Village Beast Is a Member of the Community The postmodern questions about meaning and being will not simply disappear. There are two ways of dealing with the ques-tions, two ways of feeding and befriending the village beast. Oversimplifying for brevity's sake, I would say that postmodernism is present in religious life in two different forms. Religious over forty have assimilated surprising amounts of postmodern sensi-bility, and religious under forty were practically born with a post-modern consciousness. Accordingly, many believe that the vocation crisis is a solvable problem while others see it as a sign that reli-gious life is incomplete or inadequate for the present age. These are modern assessments. We are working against ourselves if we seek answers in modernity when we ourselves have assimilated or have been socialized by postmodern sensibilities. We will not accept modern answers if we are postmoderns ourselves. Community leadership, usually held by persons over forty, seeks modern rational avenues for vocation initiatives or charism rein-terpretation while living mostly postmodern lives themselves. Being born into the postmodern culture is distinct from assim-ilating it. Se~in D. Sammon FSM, in his "Last Call For Religious Life," expresses well the internal and external collisions occurring in religious life between Baby Boomers and the Thirteeners, those who constitute the thirteenth generation produced by the United States.7 Others have referred to this cohort as Generation X or Gen-X, although Thirteeners is a more accurate term for those born between 1961 and 1981. Identifying the tensions that exist between generations is, I believe, as important as identifying the darker side of the postmodernism that has crept into religious life through assimilation. Postmodernism as Assimilated The Future of Religious Life in the United States (FORUS), a study by Miriam Ukeritis CSJ and David Nygren CM, alerted congre-gations to many things, two of which I will emphasize here. First, the data showed that many individual religious have attitudes and lifestyles, values and behaviors, that reflect cultural assimilation. Review for Religious This cultural assimilation is not necessarily indicated by the clothes we wear or the style of housing we have adopted, but it is observable in attitudes. The individualism indicated by the FORUS data in areas of career, self-determination, and affective-support systems reflects current postmodern sensibilities. Many religious find that their ministerial careers, whether parochial, diocesan, or institutional, require dedication and energy that prevent their participation in projects and activities within their congregation,s Their primary relationships begin to reflect their ministerial setting. In this, Baby Boomers and Thirteeners share a similar postmodern attitude. Sammon notes, "Most Thirteeners feel that the people with whom you have day-to-day contact and share meaningful conversations and a sense of closeness consti-ruie family. They trust their friendships over all other relation-ships.'' 9 FORUS indicates that day-to-day contact with their community is, for many, minimal or nonexistent. Assimilation is not necessarily a good or a bad element pre-sent in contemporary religious life. It is data. The interesting thing to consider, I think, is that many religious over the age of forty have accepted various attitudes and lifestyles that reflect postmodern culture and yet continue to live under a rule that assumes only the modern. For example, religious who live alone and work diligently within a nontraditional ministry might, in spite of efforts, find it difficult to follow various aspects of their constitutions, such as communal prayer, daily Eucharist, annual retreat, and general chapters. True to postmodern sensibilities, the same religious might also defend their right to exercise their ministry in ways that elude strict modern principles. They do not abide by their constitutions or statutes or provincial norms with exactitude because, in their assessment of their specific ministerial context, it simply cannot be done. In other words, the postrnodern question "What are you and what do you mean?" cannot simply be answered by handing over the constitutions. Members of teaching communities (founded to teach the chil-dren of immigrants) who are now pastoral administrators cannot point handily to a founding story to explain their doing this particular ministry. The members each have different, unique stories that are loosely connected to their community's charism as reinterpreted by its mission statement over the past twenty or forty years. This, in my view, is evidence o.f postmodern assimilation. I25-- Marcb-Ap~ql 2001 Robinson ¯ Feeding. the Beast L Postmodernism as Culturally Intuited Add to this the complicated problem of generational corn-munication. What those over forty have assimilated through expe-rience and reflection, those born after 1961 know intuitively. Their entire way of interacting with the world is steeped in postmod-ernism. Sammon clarifies this issue when discussing the current tensions between the Baby Boomer generation and Thirteeners: Many midlifers judge Thirteeners to be a disappointing ¯ bunch: ill-informed, intellectually dull, politically inactive, religiously conservative, and hopelessly materialistic. [Thirteener~] have grown tired of hearing their foiebears take credit for things they believe their elders did not do: invent rock and roll, start the civil-rights movement, stop the war in Vietnam, reform the Catholic Church single-hand-edly with Vatican II. The vast majority of Thirteeners ques-tion the self-perception of a number of boomers that they and their middle-aged compatriots have been the most creative, idealistic, morally conscious generation in the his-tory of the nation and church, if not the world.~° Those in midlife have assimilated certain postmodern sensi-bilities without having been to the manner born. This is why their sense of individualism and meaning can be distinguished from that of Thirteeners. Many midlife religious, looking back on their for-mative years with love-hate nostalgia, may find themselves won-dering why their younger compatriots have not had to work very hard to get to where they are: The latter were not put through rigorous formation practices, tests of blind obedience in trivial matters, the wearing of strange garb; they have not feared the imposition of some penance for having a particular friendship as we were! Such memories and ~eflections would indicate, to a degree, the older generation's dependence upon a grand story or metanarrative. The younger generation have not "earned their place"!--which is an assessment based on modern values, not post-modern ones. On the other hand, midlifers, with their assimilated postmodernism, refuse to alter certain lifestyle patterns that appear to be departures from the constitutional religious life they still see value in. Thirteeners are genuinely suspicious of any all-encompass-ing story that is supposed to somehow explain reality for them: What lies behind this aversion is [Thirteeners'] opposition to the sixties idealism of their older brothers and sisters. Young people of the 1960s won many gains for those who previ- Review for Religious ously had no voice. The decade failed, however, to achieve its promises. One generation's gains eventually became the losses of another. With their high ideals, baby boomers (born between 1943 and 1960) undertook organized social actions--but with what results for the generation that followed? An AIDS epidemic rather than sexual liberation; nuclear anxiety rather than peace; skyrocketing college tuition instead of low-cost education. Xers quickly came to the conclusion that they had been left with a culture in crisis,n Tension and Deeper Irony There is yet a deeper irony contained within this tension. Efforts in the 1960s to raise social consciousness were truly suc-cessful. Now it is quite common for parishes and parochial and public schools to engage in ~fforts on behalf of the poor and dis-possessed, the underrepresented populations, and also to be con-scious of global justice issues. The irony inherent in this dynamic is simple: Thirteeners are not interested in religious life for the good works the previous generation did accomplish and still strives to accomplish. Their postmodern minds and hearts take their awareness of the need for ecohuman well-being for granted and assume that efforts for such well-being will continue. What the Thirteeners want and seek is the spirituality and the communal life that have consistently been the essential meaning of conse-crated religious life, whether contemplative, monastic, mendicant, or apostolic. Sammon says, "Xers ultimately have a yearning, both implic-idy and explicitly, for an almost mystical encounter with the human and the divine. They find the religious more readily in personal experience and regard their own experience as superior to the accounts of others or truths handed down by way of creed or cus-tom.'' 12 A ramification of this sensibility is that Thirteeners who are currently members of or interested in some religious congre-gation remain or join because 'of who the community are for them, not what works they perform. This does not mean that the work is not important or attractive or life-giving or God-sent. But rarely does a community member do a ministry that could not be done without the benefit of religious life. The focus on practical purpose is a trait of modernity that the older generation of religious retain. On this front, there can be little agreement between Baby Boomers March-April 2001 Robinson ¯ Feeding the Beast and Thirteeners, both of whom exhibit the extremes and incon-sistencies of their cohort characteristics. The difficult task, in my opinion, is to admit that the post-modern village beast is in our midst, in the form of the tension between the assimilated postmodernism of the Boomers and the socializing postmodernism that has enveloped and permeated the Thirteeners from the day of their birth. It is present in the ways that religious have--for forty years and counting--been assimi-lating various cultural sensibilities such as individualism and careerism. It is present each time younger religious hear with skep-ticism of the solidly valuable accomplishments their elders are justly credited with. The postmodern questions of meaning and being are not merely coming at us from the larger society. They are a part of who we are. I mentioned earlier that many of us, of several generations, are concerned and sometimes even preoccupied with the question of our future as religious and members of vowed institutes. Our future relates directly to the question of who we are and what we mean in the contemporary world. The several generations approach and answer these questions differently. Taming this beast so that it does not define us--becoming what we are all about, becoming our very identity--requires two things. We need to understand explicitly and clearly the culture in which we find our-selves without making knee-jerk negative judgments, and we need to engage in unavoidably difficult conversations about genera-tional tensions. The Media as Language In contemporary American culture, postmodern sensibilities are inculcated most clearly through the mass media. The obvious places to start identifying postmodern tendencies are television, popular music (especially so-called alternative radio stations), movies, videos, and cyberspace. This may appear to be old news. But I mean more than simply watching or listening and letting a previously adopted metanarrative do the interpreting. We should not approach the media with dismissive attitudes. The media are the languages of the culture. Languages themselves are not flawed, unjust, shallow, or materialistic, though much that fills the media is all of the above. Still, there is a message to be heard beneath the glitz and glitter, the shallow sounds and images. In recent years the Review for Religious number of films without a "happily ever after" ending perhaps indicates a low-grade belief that the metanarrative that brings everything neatly together in the end is over. Many popular songs contain spiritual images, perhaps indicating that Thirteeners and their children are not as materialistic as people imagine. Many websites come up if one types in the word God, too many to inves-tigate in a single sitting, and they run the gamut of traditions and expressions. If we understand the media somewhat, or at least are alert to the undercurrent messages they may be communicating, we can begin to tame the question of meaning among ourselves. Patricia Wittberg SC has claimed that religious life's attractiveness for potential members relates directly to how well we understand and con-verse about our specific culture's areas of social discontinuity. Her claim, supported by others such as Sammon, is that Thirteeners particu-larly are looking for community and spiritual-ity. This seeking shows perhaps the deepest anguish of Western industrial culture and calls attention to the dark side of postmodernity. On the other hand, specific works of religious communities are directed at poverty, abandonment, alienation, and other symptoms of a society's anguish--but such symptoms are not the anguish itself. This anguish is expressed by a society's operative language; in our case, this is the media.'3 Understanding postmodernity involves engaging the media. One example among many is the ability to live and relate vicari-ously or virtually. In this world of what has been called hyperre-ality, the communication accomplished through media images is perceived as more real than the things themselves: reality is what is communicated in this hyperreal or superreal way. Charles Lamert, noting the effect on viewers of a movie like Dead Man Walking, asks: "What is the power of the movies to evoke deep feelings in such an artificial environment, bad popcorn and all? Somehow this is a medium that by projecting images before us causes us to project ourselves into those images, drawing out feel-ing from our unconsciousness . When a movie is over we leave, and leave behind the feelings."~4 In other words, because our primary means of gaining infor-mation and making sense of our culture is the media, our sensibility Understanding postmodernity involves engaging the media. March-April 2001 Robinson ¯ Feeding the Beast might last only as long as what is immediately before us. The feelings have been real. Television sight-and-sound images of Balkan ethnic cleansing produced real horror, genuine sadness and empathy. But, simply by watching CNN, we cannot say we have experienced ethnic cleansing or known anyone who has. We do, however, tend to base our belief about the world and our involvement in it on these feelings evoked by real experiences that in fact we have not experienced. Consequently, we are living virtually. Engagement and Risk Virtual living can be translated into virtual ministry if one is not careful, and so it is essential to be aware of this dynamic in order to respond to society's deepest anguish, recognizing that longings for the spiritual or the transcendent, and for a real and not merely a virtual community, are true 10ngings deserving of true ful-fillment, not virtual fulfillment. I recently removed my name from a list-serv so as to distance myself from the temptation to live vir-tually- isolated from the real. One list member wrote, "All of you are my community." Of the more than one thousand subscribers, I have never consciously met a single one in person. The feelings shared, the stories told, and the wisdom exchanged were valid and also hyperreal. I was personally moved by many of the stories and certainly prayed for many who requested prayers. The dark side of postmodernity, however, its alienation factor, is in the inevitable realization that this "community" of mine consists of more than a thousand persons with whom I have never had a face-to-face con-versation and never shared a meal. Religious life offers people real, not hyperreal, community and a real context in which to explore spirituality. From the mod-ern perspective, the ability to connect and interact electronically with thousands of people is a miracle. For those born into post-modernism, it simply is not real and cannot provide real commu-nity. Perhaps it is now time to ask whether offering invitations to religious life's real community may not itself be a valid ministry-- as valid as any other social-welfare ministry! My own congregation has been reminding my confreres and me that, as a society of apos-tolic life, we live in common for the sake of the mission. What I am suggesting is that, in light of postmodern questions of mean-ing and being, we notice that common life itself is a mission in a culture that hungers for real community. Review for Religious We can come to a clear understanding of this culture and its anguish only if we understand its language. We cannot use the various forms of media well enough to change the image of con-secrated life in the popular mind if we do not speak this language. It is futile to use postmodern media to send modern messages. Resisting the temptations inherent in the media culture (such as virtual living) and simultaneously becoming fluent in mediaspeak are the means to make the postmodern beast begin feeding us. Intergenerational Dialogue This leads us to the complicated issue of intergenerational dia-logue. We feed thevillage beast through our intergenerational struggles. Baby Boomers have indeed assimilated much of the media culture, but have done it selectively. Thirteeners, on the other hand, learned to communicate under the broad umbrella of the media; for them it is not a learned or second language. Consequently, differences in communication become apparent when identity and meaning are discussed in relation to the vocation crisis. If we cannot in some way formulate a cohesive self-image and rationale for existence among ourselves, no amount of media expo-sure can change the pattern of decreasing membership. I believe that for some communities and congregations, if not most, the intergenerational challenge is greater than the reality of overall diminishing numbers. Sammon states, "So great is the suspicion about Xers among a few midlife priests, sisters, and brothers that they would go so far as to risk. the future of their congregations rather than admit a significant number of them to membership. Xers in religious life find their situation equally oppressive.''~s The generations share the suspicion equally. Boomers accuse younger religious of conservatism, materialism, and an absence of passion about social issues. Thirteeners are weary of being measured against a supposed Vatican II norm of authenticity, namely, the Boomers' sense that their own Catholic understanding of the contemporary world is better than their elders' understanding of it; the Thirteeners are also weary of the ineffective ideological psychobabble they perceive in many for-mation programs. It is important, then, to find concrete ways in which both groups can genuinely share each other's wisdom. Recalling Patricia Wittberg's use of social-movement theory to examine religious life, one can say that a group or a community March-April 2001 Robinson ¯ Feeding the Beast succeeds when it speaks to a specific discontinuity present in soci-ety. For Boomers, discontinuities include poverty, oppression, dis-crimination, sexism, and racism. Baby Boomers, having lived their formative years during an age of idealism and social activism, speak well to these discontinuities, tl~ese signs of deeper anguish. Thirteeners, having spent their formative years recovering from effects of some misplaced 1960s idealism, have unavoidably embod-ied the anguish itself in their longing for transcendence and com-munity. The original anguish and its subsequent effects are elements of the same reality. Schneiders says: "The distinguishing characteristic of reli-gious life (in any of its forms) is the exclusive commitment to the God-quest that precludes any other primary life commitment, such as that to spouse and family, profession, or project . For religious the love of Jesus, unmediated by any other primary com-mitment, is the constitutive factor in life.''16 Whether one's energy is centered on social discontinuities themselves or on consequences of efforts to deal with them, the primary commitment to God in Jesus Christ through the Spirit provides common ground. Schneiders goes on to explain that the fundamental call to religious life belongs to the nature of charism on the first level. This call as "lived in and through the love and direct service of the neighbor" belongs to the nature of charism on its second level.17 While it would be scientifically inaccurate or simplistic to divide the Baby Boomer and Thirteener generations into clear categories, I tend to believe that one generation can more properly be described as on one level, the other on the other. Schneiders locates religious life on the margins of culture: The relation of the religious to culture is one of voluntary marginality rather than total absorption. By not undertaking one's species role as reproducer of the race, by not partici-pating in a capitalistic economy by the acquisition or use of wealth for personal purposes, by not exercising political power for individual goals, the religious situates herself at the edges of the systems that make the culture function. From this marginal position, religious share in the "hermeneutical advantage of the poor," the vision of the sociocultural sys-tem from the standpoint of those who are not primary ben-eficiaries of that system but often its victims.~8 In other words, the me.aning of the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience is the site from which to begin genera-tional dialogue. Whether initially motivated by a longing for corn- Review for Religious munity and transcendence or by a love for justice and for the socially disadvantaged, both Baby Boomer and Thirteener reli-gious are characterized by their voluntary marginality in rela-tionship to the culture that produced them. This is common ground, which we call the evangelical counsels. The Unity between Postmodernism and Modernity My point here is that discovering the common ground between generations provides the space in which to discover the other's world. This is of utmost importance, given these genera-tions' responsibilities for taking religious life into the future. There are two ways of approaching this common ground. The prophetic character of Baby Boomers, which gets them involved in the social activism, corresponds well to Schneiders's views of the centrality of the vow of consecrated celibate chastity. The existential angst of the Thirteener generation corresponds well to Michael J. Himes's reflections on the vow of poverty last year in this journal.~9 Granted that trying to offer a clear-cut typology is risky at best, it can serve as a point of departure for some interesting discussion. The particular strengths of the Baby Boomer generation and of the Thirteener generation are all-too-able to keep the ques-tion of being and meaning at bay and thus to keep anxiety about the future our primary concern. These strengths are likewise capa-ble of eliminating any future whatsoever for many religious con-gregations. But let us look more closely. Schneiders says, "The constitutive feature of religious life as a state of life, in other words, that which both organizes it as a form of life in the church and distinguishes it from other forms, is lifelong consecrated celibacy." She adds, "Celibate solitude is the root of immediacy to God as a mode of Christian experience and of social marginality as a position in the world which, oper-ating together, ground religious life as a prophetic lifeform in the church.''2° During the renewal efforts that followed the Second Vatican Council, many religious congregations and communities took being prophetic as that which distinguishes religious life. Engagement with the world had been motivated by the zeal to continue the ministry of Jesus Christ, particularly among the most abandoned. In order to be prophetic, religious entered into study, discernment, and activity that placed them truly on the far margins of contemporary society and away from the large institutions which Mard~-.4pril 2001 Robinson ¯ Feeding tbe Beast had previously defined or identified them. This was in line with the social activism of the generation and found support from many quarters. The movement was into the world, into social justice, into solidarity with the materially poor and into a variety of direct-service ministries. How does this connect with Schneiders's views on consecrated celibacy? First, one's commitment to the God-quest is clear within such a consecration, at least theoretically. Second, making Jesus Christ the center of one's life includes loving the people whom Jesus loved, particularly the most abandoned. Finally, the prophetic witness of consecrated celibacy needs to be concrete and incar-national. This appealed to a generation that had not been as close to the breakdown of marriage as the Thirteeners were. For them the consecration to celibacy involved a far greater prophetic com-mitment than to marriage. There is a twofold dynamic operating here. On the one hand, committing oneself to God stirs up zeal for justice and people's welfare, and, on the other, seeing the image of God in those who are served stirs up zeal for the commitment. Combining Strengths The Baby Boomer generation has been and is an active, "doing" generation. It believes that it can make a difference and is willing to live consecrated celibacy for the sake of those whose lives are improved by their commitment. The vow enables the religious to serve more people expeditiously and well. This, in a sense, touches again upon the issue of modernity. Baby Boomers were socialized within a modern world that was on a continuum towards better and better things. The utility of the vow is consis-tent with this mentality. For its part, the Thirteen generation is characterized by its existential poverty. This is altogether distinct from the issues of either material poverty or affluence. By existential poverty I mean that the Thirteener generation has been given no great social quest, does not believe in unlimited linear progress (because modernity has failed it), and perceives that it has not contributed greatly to the larger social reality. Sammon claims that Thirteeners appear to be "the cleanup crew of this century: whatever conse-quences America must face, they'll bear the brunt of it.''21 The resulting attitude constitutes a certain existential poverty. This generation has no grand story to tell, it has grown up living virtual Review for Religious instead of actual reality, and it has been left to confront the future with something less than hope. Members of this generation have experienced a great deal of death by way of suicide, drugs, and local violence, such as drive-by or school shootings. Although often caricatured as a materialistic, spoiled genera-tion, middle-class Thirteeners were provided with a great number of things by the previous generation, who considered such accu-mulation a sign of success. They watched as success ripped fami-lies apart, leaving them the first victims of what some have called America's divorce epidemic. Sammon states, "They are., the first generation of Americans whom other people took pills not to have. From the very beginning of their lives, this message was passed along to them: Children are avoidable or, in the case of abortion, disposable.''22 These social perceptions include an intuitive sense of the poverty of the human condition. Material well-being is a secondary issue. Michael J. Himes has proposed that "poverty is the key value in the vows . It is to recognize that there are radical limits on me.''23 Thirteeners have internalized the entire postmodern critique of modernity's limitations. Regarding relationships, Thirteeners draw on their experience of watching their parents divorce. Regarding beliefs, Thirteeners have carried the brunt of religious pluralism, picking up the notion that every belief is as good as the next because none can be proven and all have been touched by some kind of scandal. Regarding institutions, ,they are aware that the social-security system may ~ail and leave them without its benefits; they know that a good university education may not provide a lifelong upwardly bound career. In their perception of the world, everything is suspect because everything is radically limited. I would suggest that Thirteeners, through their sense of rad-ical existential poverty, have something important to contribute to vowed or consecrated life. It is no wonder that they turn instinc-tively towards community and spirituality. They do not appear to be seeking definitive answers because they would not believe them anyway. But their ability to live with ambiguity without idealism provides a different edge to prophecy. As Himes says, "Your life is a public witness to the fact that unfulfillment is what is character- The Thirteen generation is characterized by its existential poverty. March-April 2001 ,Robinson ¯ Feeding the Beast istic of being a human being.''24 Fo~: the Thirteener who has made the God-quest her primary life-commitment, the clear message is that only God provides fulfillment, not the promises of modernity or the fleeting, noncommittal character of postmodernism. So what does feeding the village beast have to do with the above generalizations? Those who feel an affinity with Schneiders's sense of consecrated celibacy can say, "I am a person whose pri-mary affective life-commitment revolves entirely around Jesus Christ. Because of this, I continue to do what Jesus did in order to announce the good news to the poor." Those who resonate with Himes's view can say, "I am a person whose primary affective life-commitment revolves entirely around Jesus Christ, who taught us that only God can satisfy the deepest of human longings. I gladly live a life proclaiming this message, particularly to those who are most abused by the lies of materialism and the false belief that it can provide fulfillment." These two essential stances can help keep beastly postmodern anxiety at bay and not allow our lives to be consumed by obsession about our future--or about whose vision of the future is most accurate and correct! The challenge, then, is to find ways of sharing equally valid expressions of our primary life-commitment. One emphasis is no less valid or worthy than the other; both of them result from generational experiences, perceptions, and worldviews. We can begin honestly and peacefully to identify in ourselves and in one another which tendency manifests itself in our lives together, together in our communities and in our ministries within the larger church and world. No One Answer From the perspective of modernity, we are challenged to come together to discuss the constituent factors of our form of life, par-ticularly as they are embodied in ourselves. From the postmodern perspective, we cannot allow one emphasis or one manifestation to be considered the grand story, the metanarrative which will solve all problems. There is no one answer, there is no universal solution, and in a sense there is nothing to be repaired. As Schneiders points out, religious life is a lifeform, an organic reality that has the abil-ity to grow, develop, change, and move through space and time. I have covered a great deal of territory in this reflection. It began by identifying a dynamic that is operative in many congre- Review for Religious gations and communities, namely, a preoccupation with our future. One of the reasons that we are confronted by this village beast is the presence, in different degrees in two generations, of a post-modern sensibility, a sensibility most clearly evident in contem-porary society's operative language, the media. The postmodern question of meaning and being presents itself not only from outside our community boundaries but also within the community itself. The Baby Boomers retain the idealism of their modern upbringing, but have indeed assimilated selectively some aspects of the postmodern sensibility. Thirteeners, on the other hand, were socialized into postmodernism from birth. Consequently, the question of meaning and being takes on different characteristics for the two generations. In order to stop being menaced by challenges that our future presents, I believe that all the generations in religious life, par-ticularly Baby Boomers and Thirteeners, need to discover the common ground of their basic life-commitment. I believe that the language used in this discovery will indicate that the prophetic activism surrounding the idea of consecrated celibacy, as out-lined by Sandra M. Schneiders, can peacefully coexist with the language of existential human poverty, as outlined by Michael J. Himes. The question about our future may lumber around and not go away altogether. This not unfriendly village beast may continue to say, "Feed me." But feeding it must not be what we are all about. Notes J Charles Lamert, Postmodernism Is Not What You Think (Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Publishers, 1997), p. 5. 2 Sandra M. Schneiders IHM, Finding the Treasure: Locating Catholic Religious Life in a New Ecclesial and Cultural Context (Mahwah: Paulist Press, 2000). 3 Lamert, Postmodernism, p. 51 4 Schneiders, Finding, p. 111. 5 Schneiders, Finding, p. 113. 6 See Schneiders, Finding, p. 113. 7 See Sefin D. Sammon FMS, "Last Call for Religious Life," Human Development 20, no. 1 (Spring 1999): 12-27. 8 David J. Nygren CM and Miriam Ukeritis CSJ, The Future of Religious Orders in the United States: Transformation and Commitment (Westport, Conn.: Praeger Publishers, 1993), p. 158. March-April 2001 Robinson ¯ Feeding the Beast 9 Sammon, "Last Call," p. 15. t0 Sammon, "Last Call," p. 17. " Sammon, "Last Call," p. 17. 12 Sammon, "Last Call," p. 16. 13 Patricia Wittberg SC, Pathways to Re-Creating Religious Communities (Mahwah: Paulist Press, 1996), pp. 81-85; Sammon, "Last Call," p. 20. 14 Lamert, Postmodernism, pp. 29-30. 15 Sammon, "Last Call," p. 17. 16 Schneiders, Finding, p. 313. J7 Schneiders, Finding, p. 314. 18 Schneiders, Finding, p. 327. 19 Michael J. Himes, "Returning to Our Ancestral Lands," Review for Religious 59, no. 1 (January-February 2000): 21. 20 Schneiders, Finding, p. 129. 2, Sammon, "Last Call," p. 16. 22 Sammon, "Last Call," p. 16. 23Himes, "Returning," p. 21. 24Himes, "Returning," p. 22. In a Time of Trial In my Friday-grief I seat myself by your shrouded body in the dark stone-stopped tomb while I await the sudden trembling of the earth, the harsh scraping at the entrance, the rustle of spice-scented linens, and know that I can now step out with you into the sun-drenched dawn of an Alleluia-day. Franklin Cullen CSC Review for Religious DORIS GOTTEMOELLER I Community and Communion: Making the Connections p~.pe John Paul II speaks of some aspects of the Eucharist in ta consecrata, his postsynodal apostolic exhortation on the consecrated life: By its very nature the Eucharist is at the center of the con-secrated life, both for individuals and for communities. It is the daily viaticum and source of the spiritual life for the indi-vidual and for the institute. By means of the Eucharist all consecrated persons are called to live Christ's paschal mystery, uniting themselves to him by offering their own lives to the Father through the Holy Spirit. (§95) These words of the pope describe an ideal that seems far from the daily experience of most religious I know. It is not that we do not affirm the ideal. But the realities of community and liturgy seldom come together in the life-giving way envisioned in Vita consecrata. The reasons are many and complicated, and the solutions will require imagination and passionate desire. Here I want to explore some factors that inhibit the integration of Eucharistic devotion and community life, to identify some values common to both, and to name some steps we can take to reanimate our communal and Eucharistic life. First let us describe the present reality of Eucharistic practice among religious. I will focus in this section only on common, Doris Gottemoeller RSM presented this paper first at the Eucharistic Congress in Washington, D.C., on 7 October 2000. She is Senior Vice President for Mission and Values Integration at Catholic Healthcare Partners; 615 Elsinore Place; Cincinnati, Ohio 45202. March-April 2001 Gottemoeller * Community and Communion L J Religious community is meant to be a tissue of daily relationships, the context in which we realize all the other dimensions of our vowed life. observable practice. Let us begin by looking at large community houses such as motherhouses and retirement communities. Many of them still have the benefit of a daily Mass, but a significant number can no longer count on the daily presence of a priest. Since these sisters tend to be old and infirm and unable to go out to a parish, they substitute a communion service on the days a priest is not available. Sisters in smaller local communities seldom live in traditional parochial convents; even if they minister in a parish, they may well choose to attend Mass at a different parish. Where two or more sisters live together but work in different ministries, they may well attend different parishes. In short, the practice of a community attending Mass together is becoming increasingly rare. A few sisters minister in settings too far from a resident priest to expect to attend Mass more than once a week, if that often. In some cases, what counts toward the choice of where to worship is convenient location, convenient time, and a congenial celebrant. At times anonymity and speed are the operative criteria for selection. Add to this general picture of behav-ior some frequently expressed thoughts and feelings: "I cannot attend Mass daily and have it be a real celebration. IfI go less frequently, each cel-ebration becomes more meaningful." "My ministry requires me to work long hours, and there is no liturgy that fits into my sched-ule." "The Church's exclusion of women from presiding at liturgy and the use of exclusive language in readings and prayers make Mass attendance too painful for me to endure." I make no attempt to quantify these practices or feelings--only to note that they are part of the experience of at least some religious and therefore, in a sense, part of the experience of us all. What about the experience of community life today? Elsewhere I have suggested that our inability to be clear about what community living means or what it calls us to is our Achilles' heel.' Even raising the topic provokes equivocation, defensiveness, rationalizations. Everyone affirms community as an ideal, but few agree on how to realize it in practice. In the same vein, we are Review for Religious not clear on how it relates to, shapes, or determines our practice of the evangelical counsels and ministry. Going deeper, we have not chaJlenged ourselves to articulate a theology or spirituality of com-munity living adequate for our time. In the complicated process of adapting our way of life to modern and postmodern realities over recent decades, we have been clearer about what we were dis-carding than about what we were setting up as a corporate choice. Hence we find it difficult to say with any clarity or assurance what we are inviting potential and new members to share. Given our uncertainties and ambivalence about Eucharistic devotion and community living, it is no wonder that the ideal of Eucharist-centered consecrated life, for both individuals and com-munities, seems a dream still to be accomplished. The foregoing sketch of the present situation may sound somewhat pessimistic. But there is, I believe, a renewed hunger among religious today for authentic expressions of the deepest meaning of our life, and so these considerations are important. I suggest that there is a powerful analogy between Eucharistic life and religious community life that can shed light on both and show between them a common spirituality. The analogy has four dimensions. The Word Is Made Flesh Religious community and the Eucharist are incarnational. There is a physicality about each that is intrinsic to its nature. Our Eucharistic belief and piety embrace the concept of the Real Presence: that under the appearances of bread and wine the whole Christ is truly, really, and substantially present. If the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity had not assumed human nature, human soul and body, there would have been no Last Supper and no enduring Eucharistic presence today. The accidents of bread and wine are able to be seen and eaten; they are tangible. We know that religious community is also tangible: it is a social experience in which real people, through their physical senses, relate to one another in significant and mutually supportive ways. Sometimes we speak of community as an abstraction, one that is easy to affirm because it makes no demands on us. But reli-gious community is meant to be a tissue of daily relationships, the context in which we realize all the other dimensions of our vowed life: prayer, poverty, celibacy, obedience, mission. Take poverty as an example: not only do we share our income in common, but we March-April 2001 Gottemoeller ¯ Community and Communion also discern together how much is enough, whether for the present living situation or for future needs. Living religious community requires interacting in significant ways with companions whom we can see, address, challenge, praise, forgive, and even embrace. A priest celebrating Mass alone, without the company of an altar server or any other worshiper, is an anomaly. So, I would suggest, is a religious living alone. Something intrinsic to the expe-rience of Eucharistic or religious community is missing. Carrying the incarnational analogy further, we may say that both Eucharist and religious community are preeminent realizations of church. As Vatican Council II's Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy reminds us, "The liturgy is the outstanding means by which the faithful can express in their lives, and manifest to others, the mystery of Christ and the real nafure of the true church. It is of the essence of the church that she be both human and divine, visible and yet invisibly endowed . Day by day the liturgy builds up [the mem-bers] of the church into the Lord's holy temple, into a spiritual dwelling for God--an enterprise which will continue until Christ's full stature is achieved. At the same time the liturgy marvelously fortifies the faithful in their capacity to preach Christ. To out-siders the liturgy thereby reveals the church as a sign raised above the nations" (§2). In short, when the faithful gather to celebrate Eucharist, Church "happens." The Synod on Consecrated Life also saw a unique ecclesial manifestation in this life. Vita consecrata (§§41 and 42) calls com-munity life "an eloquent sign of ecclesial communion," that is, of the church's fundamental identity. Community demonstrates that sharing in trinitarian communion can change human relationships and create a new type of solidarity, built not on family ties or nat-ural attraction, but on common values and commitments. "In this way it speaks to people both of the beauty of fraternal commu-nion and of the ways which actually lead to it. Consecrated persons live 'for' God and 'from' God, and precisely for this reason they are able to bear witness to the reconciling power of grace, which overcomes the divisive tendencies present in the human heart and in society." Community is described as a "God-enlightened space in which to experience the presence of the risen Lord." In literature the figure of speech called synecdoche uses a part to represent the whole and thus even to contain the whole. Perhaps this figure of speech can illustrate a similarity between the Eucharistic assembly and religious community: each in its own Review for Religious way, limited in time and space, is a special manifestation of the church, past, present, and future, throughout the world. Do This in Memory of Me Whenever Mass is celebrated, the story of our redemption is retold and the stuff of our lives is incorporated into that story. In the penitential rite we are reminded that Jesus heals the wounds of sin and division, and then we recall our sins and ask and receive forgiveness. Scripture readings highlight some aspect of salvation history, and the homily applies it to our lives. In the creed we recite the ancient truths and affirm our contemporary belief. In the offertory our gifts are brought to the altar in order to be become Christ's Body and Blood. The words of consecration recall the Last Suppe~:--for the sake of the present action. The telling and retelling of the story of salvation is not a sterile repetition, but an opportunity for us to be drawn into an ongoing story and to make it our own. It is ultimately a transforming story. One day recently the postcommunion prayer included the words "become what we have received." We could never exhaust the meaning of that short phrase. Nourished by Christ's Body and Blood, we are incorporated into him and become Christ in the world. Each religious institute also lives by a story. The circumstances of the founding, the teachings of the founder, the sufferings and hardships of early members, accounts of new missions undertaken, tales of saintly individuals--all of these are elements in a congre-gational history that is still being written. A new member is grad-ually introduced to that s~ory in a process analogous to the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults. Bit by bit she learns the stoW and becomes a part of it. The story is more than facts: it includes beliefs, values, and customs which have to be interiorized if the new member is to be really incorporated. These are best instilled by example. The new member lives in a community that shows her in a natural and unselfconscious way what it is to be a Sister of Mercy or Daughter of Charity or Franciscan. Gradually she takes on the new identity and lives out of it in an authentic way. Both processes--Eucharistic and congregational incorpora-tion- illustrate the meaning of theological tradition. This term refers to the preservation and development by which some truth, whether divine revelation itself or a founding charism, is made available to succeeding generations. Through successive genera- March-April 2001 Gottemoeller ¯ Community and Communion t_ions of recalling and living and praying that truth, new persons are enabled to enter into the community of belief and practice and to contribute their insights. The words used may differ, as languages and cultures change, but the essential identity perdures, under the guidance of the Spirit. Eucharistic community and religious com-munity are communities of memory, nourished by retelling the story. The words of the Evangelist John apply to both, "What we have seen and heard, we proclaim now to you, so that you may have communion with us" (1 Jn 1:3). That All May Be One No group on earth is more diverse than the community of Christian believers. A Coptic Christian in a refugee camp in Ethiopia, a campesino in the highlands of Peru, a Midwest tourist at St. Patrick's Cathedral, all take part in the same liturgy, albeit in different languages and rites. Nor does the diversity end there. Even within the same national or ethnic group, vocational choices, personal gifts, economic circumstances, theological tendencies, and spiritual preferences may differentiate worshipers from one another. Just look around the church some morning and appreci-ate the diversity present there. Retirees, business executives, stu-dents, factory workers, a few street people--all feel comfortable. The church's identity as communio means that all members share a fundamental unity, rooted in baptism. Whatever their differ-ences, the liturgy inspires the faithful to become of one heart in love by being "filled with 'the paschal sacraments'" (Sacrosanctum concilium, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, §10). The sociologist Robert Bellah asserts that the fundamental practice that tells us who we are as Christians is worship? When we all gather to partake of the same Eucharistic banquet, we are drawn into an embodied world of relationships and connections, a world of human solidarity. Furthermore, he suggests, this soli-darity is an antidote to the radical individualism so characteristic of modern society. Every Eucharistic celebration is an opportunity to model hospitality and inclusive love. When we detect that dif-ferences have become barriers to communio, we must seek recon-ciliation and the restoration of harmony. Religious community has its own diversity. Before renewal we often ignored our differences or tried to eliminate them through adherence to minutiae of rules and customs. Once we began to Review for Religious recognize and appreciate individual differences, however, we did not always differentiate between wholesome and destructive diver-sity. Perhaps more accurately, we did not always differentiate between accidental differences, which can enhance community, and substantive differences, which can erode common meaning. We easily think of examples of diver-sity within a single congregation: national origin (especially if it is an international institute), ethnicity, age, personality types, education, professional expertise, ministry experience, tendencies in theology and spirituality, preferences in art, music, and recreation. On the one hand, this variety of gifts is a wonderful treasure. On the other, it creates a formidable obstacle to the unity of mind and heart which is the ideal of religious life. If this unity is to flourish, it must include a common under-standing of the core commitments of the vowed life and a common passion for the mission, and it must be nourished by the sound traditions of the congregation. For we are not on individual spiritual journeys that intersect only occasionally; we share one journey on which everyone's successes and failures challenge all to be better pilgrims. Successful integration of the varied gifts within a religious community mirrors ecclesial community and contributes to its flourishing. Hospitality and inclusive love are characteristics of both Eucharistic and religious community celebrations. The sociologist Robert Bellah asserts that the fundamental practice that tells us who we are as Christians is worship. Go Forth to Love and Serve the Lord As the liturgy draws to a close, we are sent forth on mission. In the prayers of petition, we remembered the needs of our fam-ilies, friends, community members, church, and world. We offered ourselves with the bread and wine, and now Christ has incorpo-rated us more deeply into himself so that our hands will be his hands, our hearts his heart, on a mission of service to others. Each liturgy ends in a commissioning that echoes the commissioning of Jesus' disciples before his ascension: "Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father Marcb-April 2001 Gottemoeller ¯ Community and Communion and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always until the end of the age." The message is not "Keep safe and stay well until we meet again," but rather "Go forth to love and serve me in the least of my brethren. What you have received, give freely. And, when next you gather at my table, bring the cares and needs of your neighbors with you." Liturgy is not a place to retreat from the world's problems for an hour of spiritual comfort. It is a time to penetrate more deeply into the meaning of the world's problems through the lens of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. Communion should help us see with his vision. This means seeing beneath the surface of events to the roots of the world's problems. Seeing with Christ's eyes-- we call this contemplation--is necessary for entering into the strug-gle against evil in the depths of human hearts and in the structures of society. Similarly, religious community life is oriented toward mis-sion. "Nor for ourselves alone" should be the watchword. Consecrated life is apostolic in its very essence. This means, not that persons in religious congregations do apostolic works or have individual ministries, but that our whole way of life is for the sake of making the love of God visible and attractive. Community life, therefore, as an intrinsic element of the consecrated life, should be mission oriented in both intention and expression. An apostolic community welcomes neighbors and friends and even, at times, aliens and strangers. An apostolic community weaves the needs of the world into its spiritual consciousness and common prayer. An apostolic community shares its resources with people who are poor. An apostolic community responds to the needs and priori-ties of the larger congregation and also welcomes new members, introducing them to this way of life. In short, an apostolic com-munity is not turned in on itself, isolated and self-sufficient, but receives from others and shares with them. Eucharistic and reli-gious communities--both of them generate apostolic engagement and support. Reanimating Our Eucharistic and Communal Life At the beginning of these reflections, we noted that one of the challenges of living Eucharistic and religious community enthu-siastically is the dailiness of the two experiences. Building on the Review for Religious strength of the analogy between them, let us imagine some ways to make each experience more life-giving. In order to do so, you may want to recall some especially meaningful community cele-bration- perhaps a patronal feast, a jubilee or anniversary, a pro-fession ceremony, even a funeral. Are there elements of that well-remembered celebration which can be incorporated into daily experience? Let me suggest a few. The first dimension of any celebration is anticipation, together with preparation and planning. We look forward to community celebrations, choosing the time and place with care, sending out invitations, preparing the space, devising a menu. If the celebra-tion is to include a liturgy, additional preparations are made--a celebrant is engaged, the choir and musicians rehearse, programs are printed, the altar is adorned. Far from being a burden, these preparations add to the greatness of the occa-sion. We enjoy imagining what the result will be. We look forward to the delight others will experience, perhaps to elements of surprise or special beauty they will enjoy. By our antici-patory efforts we are giving the message that what is to follow is important. In some way the element of anticipation and preparation can be incorporated into the daily rhythm of our Eucharistic and commu-nal life. A simple way to anticipate the Eucharist is to reflect on the scriptural texts before Mass, to pray for grace to hear the word of God and to live it gladly. If we have options, the choice of a time and place to attend Mass is also part of the anticipation. Because community life is not a single event, but an ongoing rela-tionship, the note of anticipation may not seem applicable. I believe, however, that we have to be every bit as intentional about when and how we will gathei', what we will do to enhance the meeting, who we might invite to join us. Mealtime, prayer times, and recreation--three common points of encounter--can all be enriched by thoughtful anticipatory gestures. Gathering flowers for the dinner table can say to your companions, "You are important to me. I am happy to spend this time with you." After the preparation comes the event itself, the celebration of Eucharist, the experience of community living. Harking back to the The element of anticipation and preparation can be incorporated into the daily rhythm of our Eucharistic and communal life. March-April 2001 Gottemoeller ¯ Community and Communion community celebration we specially remember, we note that pres-ence to one another and attention to detail are key ingredients. A sister that I lived with for many years told me this story not long ago. She recalled returning from a trip very late at night and very tired. We used to gather for our community prayer at 7:15 each morning. The following morning she was very tempted to sleep in and skip prayer; she felt she was too tired to contribute anything to the community's effort. But she came, and she had a vivid expe-rience of being borne up and carried by the prayer of the rest of us. Then, when she went to morning Mass with us, she had the same experience at church. The presence of the other parishioners, many of whom we did not know by name but recognized from seeing them frequently, "bore her up." Their faith sustained and animated her. This story is, I suggest, a parable about the nature of Eucharistic and religious community. In times of fatigue, dis-traction, boredom, the community is there for me. When others are similarly challenged, I want to be there for them. Attention to the details of presence enhances Eucharistic cel-ebrations and community experiences. The visibility of sisters, at least occasionally attending Mass together in a parish church, gives a clear reminder that we are still here, that ours is an ecclesial vocation, that our apostolic works are rooted in a life of commu-nal and liturgical prayer. Participation as a lector, Eucharistic min-ister, choir member, or bearer of the offertory gifts can help focus our attention on what we are doing together. Attention to our posture, dress, and demeanor can all help us remember that each celebration, no matter how frequently repeated, is an incalculable opportunity to be united with the whole church living, striving, and praying throughout time and space. Similarly, in local community settings, cultivating habits of courtesy and thoughtfulness can ele-vate the daily humdrum into graced encounters. Finally, a meaningful celebration is prolonged beyond the event itself. The liturgical year supplies us with a cycle of special feasts, but, except for Christmas and Easter, the celebration is usu-ally over and forgotten by eight o'clock in the morning. Are there ways in which we can remind ourselves and one another of the morning's scripture reading, the day's feast, or the spirit of the season (the anticipation of Advent, the joy of Christmastime, the penitential spirit of Lent, the daily challenge of Ordinary Time)? Our community gatherings give us the opportunity to prolong the Eucharistic celebration into the rest of the day. Review for Religious All of these suggestions, simple as they are, are ways in which we can integrate our communal and liturgical prayer. And, of course, there are ways in which all of this can relate to our personal prayer. If one dimension is weak, neglected, or underdeveloped, the others suffer. Each part of our spiritual journey is meant to sup-port the others. In these reflections on the connection between liturgy and community life, I have suggested that there is an anal-ogy which illuminates each. Each in its own way is incarnational and ecclesial, an experience of living memory, a manifestation of varied gifts subsumed into a common unity, and a sending forth on mission. Of course, every analogy is limited, and I do not mean that the two realities are comparable in all respects. Perhaps we can switch for a moment from analogy to metaphor--my English teacher would be so proud! Both liturgy and community life are paths to the same goal of union with God, and so it is not sur-prising that, the closer they approach that goal, the more they converge. The metaphor is limited too, however, for in this life of ours we can take both paths at the same time. I found the intimate relationship, the reciprocity, between Eucharist and community summed up in the following passage by Marcello Azevedo SJ: "The Eucharist is the soul and inspiration of community [living]. The Eucharist makes community viable and challenges us to live up to its truth. And community provides a way for the Eucharist to become authentic. Where community cracks or becomes truncated, where there is community but not a living communion, there we find less of an opportunity for the Eucharist to be consistently credible. There may be a formal cel-ebration, but the very act may empty the meaning and implica-tions of what we are celebrating."3 Azevedo goes on to say that it is necessary to assist young and not-so-young religious to under-stand the immense and unique implications of the Eucharist for community life. He comments that, if we do not make the effort to teach them, daily Eucharist will seem a meaningless legalistic obligation to the young. The not-so-young, for their part, having become accustomed to a disciplined ritual, may not be aware of a problem. But, while attending the Eucharist faithfully, they might fail to grasp its new dimensions and appreciate its many benefits for the life of the community. Before closing let me return to one of the issues identified at the beginning of this reflection, namely, the alienation of some women religious from liturgy because of their feelings of exclusion. March-April 2001 '!49-- !50 Gottemoeller * Community and Communion At times the institutional church--which publicly validates our lives through canonical recognition and affirmations of many kinds--also seems to go out of its way to distance us from the Eucharist through clericalist assertions. As a result some women have sought to nourish their communal spirituality by retrieving women's rituals from Native American, Eastern, and ancient pagan sources. This issue, this phenomenon, has not been the focus of my remarks, but, because of its relationship to the overall question of Eucharistic participation by women religious, it is important to at least touch on it. Mary Collins OSB provides some relevant insights in her essay "Is the Eucharist Still a Source of Meaning for Women?''4 After noting that the Eucharistic Christ has brought prayerful women-- including our congregational founders--to a depth of spiritual identity, vision, and power generation after generation, she says: "This meaning and power do not lie exclusively in the past; they have a present and future for those who trust themselves to Eucharistic action in troubled times. To insist upon construing Eucharist solely as a symbol of male power is to squander a known source of spiritual vitality in the Catholic community." She addresses the issue of substituting other rituals for Christian liturgy: Where such impoverished constructions of the Catholic Church's Eucharistic tradition have been accepted as the whole truth or the only significant truth, some Catholics have begun to identify themselves as post-Christian and to look elsewhere for the way, the truth, and the life. Will a neopagan quasi-retrieval of rites of empowerment for women guarantee a better future for the human community than the service of the gospel and the Eucharistic celebration of the mystery of salvation? Nobody has ever been able to pre-vent people from squandering real assets when the lure of fool's goal overtakes them, nor from risking a solid future on the futures market. Neoclericalism and neopaganism both look like fool's gold to me.s Collins challenges us to hold fast to the treasure which has been entrusted to us and to the whole Christian community. As reli-gious living a communitarian life, we have a special affinity for the communal dimension of Eucharist. I hope that our reflection on these matters will stir our imaginations and irrigate, from the wellspring of our communal religious lives, our desire to celebrate Review for Religious the Eucharist. I hope that the Eucharist will be for all of us what it has been and is: our "daily viaticum and source of the spiritual life." Notes ~ "Community Living: Beginning the Conversation," Review for Religious 58, no. 2 (March-April 1999): 137-149. 2 "Religion and the Shape of National Culture," America (31 July 1999): 9-14. 3 The Consecrated Life: Crossroads and Directions, (Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1995), p. 87. 4 Living in the Meantime: Concerning the Transformation of Religious Life, ed. Paul J. Philibert OP (New York: Paulist Press, 1994), pp. 185- 196. ~ Philibert, Living, p. 195. Easter Jesus rose like a gleaming daffodil, starting a trend of risings from cold mud - purple crocus and wild violet, pale narcissus looking too fragile for spring blasts, and the hooded heads of tulips waiting to unscarf themselves in coral and flame. You feel again your own mud and wonder each drab day what seeds unknown to you might be risii~g from the humus of your Lenten days and almost ready for your alleluias. PatSchnapp RSM March-April 2001 GERALD M. FAGIN Contemplation to Attain Love A Paradigm for Apostolic Prayer Every Christian faces the challenge of integrating prayer and ministry, for every Christian is called to a contemplative relationship with God and a life of service. Baptism missions a person to labor with Christ in building the reign of God in our world, but the desire and energy for that mission must come from an experience of God, a relationship with God that is fos-tered by a life of prayer. Prayer encourages and informs a life of ministry, and ministry enriches and gives renewed motivation for prayer. Our traditions provide a rich variety of definitions and methods of apostolic prayer. In this article I will suggest that the final exercise of Ignatius Loyola's Spiritual Exercises, the Contemplation to Attain Love, offers a helpful paradigm and even a partial description of the prayer of an active minister. It names the qualities of an apostolic prayer and outlines the stages of growth in such a prayer. There is no evidence that Ignatius pre-sented this exercise as a methodology of prayer, but in obvious ways the four points of the contemplation indi-cate the kind of prayer that best suits an active Christian. Many commentators point out that the Contemplation to Attain Love describes the summit and Gerald M. Fagin SJ teaches theology at Loyola University; 6363 St. Charles Avenue; New Orleans, Louisiana 70118. Review for Religious summation of the Spiritual Exercises and captures the heart of Ignatian spirituality. Michael Bucldey, in an insightful article on the contemplation, parallels the four points of this exercise with the Exercises' four Weeks.' As the four points recall what we have received, how God dwells in the gifts, how God labors in the gifts, and how the gifts lead us back to the Giver, so the four Weeks center on God's gifts of creation and redemption, on God's indwelling in the world in Jesus, on Christ laboring in the pas-sion, and finally on surrender to and union with Christ risen in glory. The grace prayed for in the contemplation also sums up the graces prayed for in the Exercises: "To ask for interior knowl-edge of all the great good I have received, in order that, stirred to profound gratitude, I may become able to love and serve the Divine Majesty in all things" (§233).2 The goal of the Exercises is to bring one to freedom to hear God's call and respond in love and service. That also articulates well the grace prayed for in any apostolic prayer. Apostolic prayer must begin with attentive listening that presumes an open heart. It results in a commitment to service that flows from a loving desire to share gospel truths and values. The contemplation at the end of the Exercises also enables and facilitates the transition from thirty days of prayer in solitude to the active life of the minister of the gospel. Prayer that was nurtured in the solitude of the desert now must find a way of expression in everyday life filled with demands and distractions. Contemplation must become a certain contemplation in action, and the God found in the quiet world of retreat must be found in all things, in all the people and events, the joys and challenges, of everyday life. This is not an easy task. The felt intimacy and strong resolutions often experienced in retreat prayer can quickly dissi-pate when confronted with the challenges of family life, commu-nity life, and ministry. Prayer must take a shape and an expression appropriate for an active and engaging life. Prayer must attune the heart to the many revelations of God in life. The four points of the Contemplation to Attain Love invite us to four forms of prayer that define the minister's relationship to God. As with the four points of the contemplation, there is a certain sequence to these prayer forms, but the rhythm of prayer implies a constant interplay between the forms. All four expressions of prayer must continually inform and enrich one another and enliven the minister. Marcb-April 2001 Fagin ¯ Contemplation to Attain Love First Point. Recall the Gifts I Have Received I will call back into my memory the gifts I have received-- my creation, redemption, and other gifts particular to myself. I will ponder with deep affection how much God our Lord has done for me, and how much he has given me of what he possesses, and consequently how he, the same Lord, desires to give me even his very self, in accordance with his divine design. (§234) Without a sense of thanksgiving, there is no true motivation for Christian service. The foundational grace of the Christian life is the grace to know God's personal love for oneself. God's love finds expression in the gifts of creation and redemption as well as in the endless other graces poured out upon us. All of life is seen in faith as a gift from the hands of a loving God who, as Ignatius indicates, finally desires to share God's own life with us. Ignatius experienced this powerfully in his own vision at the River Cardoner, where he saw all of creation coming down from God as a gift and returning to God. This dynamic view of creation defined for Ignatius the rhythm and meaning of life and the flow of all of life and salvation history. Our response in prayer to God's plan of salvation begins, then, with a sense of gifted-ness in our creation and redemption. We stand before God as a creature totally depen-dent on God and as loved sinners aware of God's forgiving and healing love. Christian prayer begins as a response to God's initiative toward us, a response first of profound gratitude for all that God has given us. It is no wonder that Ignatius recognized gratitude as central to Christian life and a sure measure of Christian faith. In the grace prayed for in the contemplation, Ignatius presumes that an interior knowledge of all God's gifts would "stir one to profound gratitude" (§2 3 3). The prayer of an apostle must be rooted in gratitude. Without a sense of thanksgiving, there is no true motivation for Christian service. Gratitude leads to magnanimity, to greatness of heart, and impels one to service. To sustain and enliven ministry, Christians must return to a sense of being gifted and rekindle desire to share all the gifts received and to proclaim to others the presence of God's gifts in their lives. One central goal .of ministry is to enable others to notice and claim their own gifts from God and then to Review for Religious foster those gifts in others. The first point of the contemplation reminds us that all prayer and all ministry flow from a grateful heart. The prayer of every minister must first be a prayer of gratitude. Second Point. God Dwells in All Creation I will consider how God dwells in creatures; in the elements, giving them existence; in the plants, giving them life; in the animals, giving them sensation; in human beings, giving them intelligence; and finally, how in this way he dwells also in myself, giving me existence, life, sensation, and intelli-gence; and even further, making me his temple, since I am created as a likeness and image of the Divine Majesty. (§235) The prayer of a minister must also be a prayer of contemplative presence. Ignatius reminds us in the second point that God dwells in all of creation, is present in every dimension of reality. To be a contemplative is to notice and be in touch with the presence of God. Ignatius spoke of acatamiento or reverence, an awareness of God's presence, a sense of awe that resulted in love, a sense of the utter gratuity of creation.4 Contemplative presence implies paying attention to God and becoming absorbed in God dwelling in and revealing himself in the world about us. God reveals himself in nature, in the events of life, in other people, and in ourselves. First, contemplative presence enables us to listen to God in nature. The beauty and grandeur of creation, the majesty of life expressed in plants and animals, the power of nature manifested in wind and storm--all of these reveal the splendor and majesty of God and call forth awe and wonder that draws the human heart to the presence of God alive in the world. The beauty and wonder of creation invite our hearts to move beyond what we experience and become centered on God. This calls to mind the simple act of contemplation that Julian of Norwich describes: seeing a tiny hazelnut, she recognizes that God made it, loves it, and preserves it.s Her heart is lifted to God her creator, her lover, and her pro-tector. All of creation is a manifestation of God that guides us into a deeper awareness of God's loving presence all around us. Second, contemplative presence also attunes us to God present in the events of our lives, events of joy and grace as well as painful and challenging events. God dwells with us, supports and strength-ens us, and faithfully walks with us in significant, life-changing March-April 2001 Fagin ¯ Contemplation to Attain Love events and in ordinary, routine events. We can recall significant moments of insight or forgiveness or renewed hope or grief at the loss of a loved one--moments of grace as dramatic as the birth of a child or as simple as a consoling word spoken in love. A con-templative presence enables us to find God dwelling in all life's events. Third, God dwells in a special way in the people we encounter in our lives. A contemplative presence gives rise to reverence and awe before others. We recognize and acknowledge God dwelling in them. We give thanks for the giftedness of others and see the face of God in them. We recall experiences of friendship that have been powerful sacraments of God's love in our lives. As the poet Hopkins proclaims it, "Christ plays in ten thousand places, lovely in limbs and lovely in eyes not his, to the Father through the features of men's faces." God is revealed as well in community, in the people God calls together. "For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them" (Mr 18:20).6 How often we find God in our sisters and brothers called together in word, sacrament, and service! God dwells powerfully in the com-munity of humankind and in the more particular communities of family and church that surround us with love and support. Finally, God dwells within our own hearts--creating us, loving us, and sustaining us. We find God in our needs and feel-ings and desires, in the movements of our hearts. God forever desires to make his home with us. Jesus' words to Zacchaeus are spoken to us each day, "I must stay at your house today" (Lk 19:5). We can recall the searching words of Paul, "It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me" (Ga 2:19) or the words of Jesus in John's Gospel, "Abide in me as I abide in you" (Jn 15:4). These words of Scripture call to mind the mysterious truth of the life of grace: God dwells within us. Contemplative prayer puts us in touch with that intimate presence and fosters our shared presence with God. The second point of the contemplation, then, elicits the grace of finding God in all things. For the Christian in active ministry, the grace of finding God in the flow of life means more than bringing the fruit of our prayerful contemplation to our ministry. It implies being contemplative in the midst of our action, finding God present in the events and people in our lives. So often we long for and wait for epiphanies of God in our lives, those dramatic and unmistakable revelations of God that capture our attention Review for Religious in sudden and unpredictable ways. A contemplative presence empowers us to notice the constant diaphanies of God, the ways God shines through all of creation and all the events of our lives. Contemplative presence is a prayer of the apostle because it allows us to find God in life and to be present ourselves to God present to us. Third Point. God Labors in All Creation I will consider how God labors and works for me in all the creatures on the face of the earth; that is, he acts in the man-ner of one who is laboring. (§236) In the third point Ignatius highlights how God is at work in all things, how God labors to bring all things to salvation. The Christian is called to labor with God to bring all of creation to salvation. Apostolic prayer, then, is always a prayer of discernment about choices and decisions.7 If Christ labors in the world, redeeming it and bringing it back to the Father, the ques-tions before the minister are always: How do I become part of this labor of Christ? What is my role in salvation history? Ignatius experienced this in his mystical vision at La Storta where the Father placed him at the side of Jesus carrying his cross. Ignatius was to labor alongside Christ to bring the world back to God. The challenge was to discover what laboring with Christ meant in the con-crete circumstances of his life. The chal-lenge for every minister is to come to decisions that are true to the mind of Christ and apt for building the reign of God. What can I do for and with Christ in my life situation? A decision flows out of a conversation between my gifts, the needs of the Christian community, and the particu-lar call of Christ in my life. Discernment is the art of finding God's will in the concrete details of my life. Discernment is a gift of the Spirit that attunes our heart to the heart of Christ so that our min-istry is shaped by the hopes and desires of the Lord and not our own agenda. The challenge for every minister is to come to decisions that are true to the mind of Christ and apt for building the reign of God. March-April 2001 Fagin ¯ Contemplation to Attain Love In the second Week of the Exercises, Ignatius invites retreatants to an imaginative prayer that leads them into the events of Christ's life. The invitation to be present to a person or event in the Scripture calls them to be present with Christ in a given mystery of his life. The grace prayed for is a deep-felt knowledge of Christ and love for Christ. Ignatian imaginative prayer or con-templation also teaches one to discern God's will in the specifics of life. Where am I to be inserted into God's plan of salvation as it unfolds today? How I am to labor with Christ to make this plan a reality? This twofold purpose of imaginative contemplation in the second Week of the Exercises--intimacy with Jesus and discern-ment-- corresponds to the grace of the second Week: to know and love Christ by being present to him in the events of his life and to follow him by learning my role in salvation history day by day. Returning to the Contemplation to Attain Love, the second point focuses on God dwelling in the world. For a Christian, focus-ing on God means being present to Christ and noticing him in the world. The third point of the contemplation centers on God laboring in the world, especially in Jesus' life, passion, and death. As the second point suggests a prayer of contemplative presence, so the third point encourages a prayer of discernment, of finding God's will in my life. Ministers of the gospel must grow into dis-cerning hearts that define and direct their service. The gift of dis-cernment enables them to sift through interior movements to discover what is from God and leads to God and what leads them away from God. Without such discernment, choices in ministry are not founded on God's call to labor with Christ for God's reign. Fourth Point. From Gift to Giver I will consider how all good things and gifts descend from above; for example, my limited power from the Supreme and Infinite Power above and so of justice, goodness, piety, mercy, and so forth--just as the rays come down from the sun, or the rains from their source. (§237) The fourth point shifts our focus to God, the source of all good. God is loved not simply for what he has done for us, but for who God is. If apostolic prayer begins in gratitude, grows into contemplative presence, and finds expression in prayerful dis-cernment, union with God and others remains the goal. "Our hearts are made for God and they are restless until they rest in Review for Religious him.''~ Prayer is the language of relationship, a posture of listen-ing and responding to God that gives expression to our faith, hope, and love and grows into a shared presence with our God who desires to draw close and be one with us. Prayer is creating a space where God can be welcomed and intimacy nourished. Prayer is the experience of our hearts being one with the heart of God. Jesus, in John's discourse after the last supper, voices his desire to be one with us as he and the Father are one. He uses the image of the vine and the branches to speak of the dynamic connection between his life and ours. He invites us to "abide in his love" and share in the love the Father has for him. Jesus promises his disci-ples that "whoever loves me will keep my word and my Father will love him and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him" On 14:23). They are to be disciples on a mission, but dis-ciples rooted in mystical union with God. Prayer ultimately leads to this familiarity with God, this union, this sharing in the very life of God. This should be true for apos-tolic ministers. As the gifts lead us back to the Giver in the fourth point of the contemplation, so a contemplative prayer of discern-ment leads our hearts to a deeper union with God. The graces of the third and fourth Weeks of the Spiritual Exercises, to be united with Jesus in his suffering and in his joy, lead a person into a prayer of union and in the end to the total surrender to God expressed in the prayer of the contemplation: "Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, and also my will--all that I have and possess. You, Lord, have given all that to me. I now give it back to you, O Lord. All of it is yours. Dispose of it accord-ing to your will. Give me love of yourself along with your grace, for that is enough for me" (§234). This is the prayer of total detachment from everything that is not God, a prayer of union that finds ultimate fulfillment in God alone. In his second preliminary observation for the contemplation, Ignatius says: "Love consists in a mutual communication between the two persons. That is, the one who loves, gives and communi-cates to the beloved what he or she has, or part of what one has or can have; and the beloved in return does the same to the lover" (§231). Love finds fullest expression in union and mutual shar-ing. Intercommunion and personal communication, mutual giving and sharing, lead to a profound union. Apostolic prayer finds ful-fillment in a profound union of heart and desire between God and the apostle. March-April 2001 Active ministers must find God in the midst of their ministry and not simply in solitude and quiet prayer. t60 ' Fag~n ¯ Contemplation to Attain Love Apostolic Prayer This essay suggests that the final exercise of the Spiritual Exercises provides the retreatant not only with a summation of the four Weeks and a synthesizing grace of the Exercises, but also with a guideline for apostolic prayer. Implicit in Ignatius's four points in the contemplation, which moves the retreatant from the world of retreat to a world of active ministry, is a description of the forms and qualities of prayer necessary to sustain the retreatant in a life of ministry. Active ministers must always center their hearts on the gifts of God so as to be continuously grateful for them. Without such gratitude the minister's heart will narrow and grow cold and lose the expansiveness and generosity essential to ministry. Ministry flows from a grateful heart. At the same time, active ministers must find God in the midst of their ministry and not sim-ply in solitude and quiet prayer. Though such solitude and quiet time is absolutely necessary, ministers must foster a contemplative presence that is attentive to God in all the dimensions of life. Such contemplative presence joins prayer and ministry, action and contemplation, and makes it possible for the minister to find life and consolation in ministry. Genuine ministry will always be the fruit of discernment and prayerful decision making. Ministers must grow in the gift and art of dis-cernment so that their ministry carries on the ministry of Jesus in service of the reign of God. To labor with Christ presumes a heart in union with Christ and a heart free to hear God's personal call to service. Apostolic prayer nurtures a discerning heart sensitive to the ongoing call of God in our lives. Finally, all prayer moves us back to the Giver of all gifts. Apostolic prayer reaches its goal in total surrender and union with God. Ignatius, in his Spiritual Diary, records the depth and full-ness of his own prayer of union with God. Ignatius's Trinitarian mysticism was the fruit of a life of prayer and service and his final surrender to the Giver of all gifts who dwells and labors in cre-atiom This is not only a prayer for the select few. It is the desire of God's heart for all believers. Review for Religious The four points of this Ignatian contemplation invite us to a prayer rooted in gratitude, embodied in a contemplative attitude, focused on discernment of God's will, and brought to culmina-tion in a deep union with God and creation. Such a description seems at least a partial summary of Ignatius's own prayer and not far from naming the gift of prayer Ignatius would ask for those who make his Spiritual Exercises. Notes ~ Michael J. Buckley SJ, "The Contemplation to Attain Love," Way Supplement 24 (Spring 1975): 92-104. Buckley's interpretation of the contemplation lays a foundation for my reflections on the prayer forms suggested by the Ignatian Contemplation to Attain Love. ~ Spiritual Exercises citations are from The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius, trans. George Ganss SJ (St. Louis: Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1992). 3 See Gerald M. Fagin SJ, "Stirred to Profound Gratitude," Review for Religious 54, no. 2 (March-April 1995): 237-252. 4 See Charles O'Neill SJ, "Acatamiento: Ignatian Reverence," Studies in the Spirituality of Jesuits 8, no. 1 (January 1976). s Julian of Norwich, Showings (Long text), chap. 5. 6 All scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard. Version. See Buckley, p. 102, St. Augustine, Confessions, Book 1, chap. 1. March-April 2001 ERNEST E. LARKIN What to Know about Discernment One of my teachers in Rome was the famed Dominican Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange. He often shared bits of worldly wisdom like the following: A young teacher teaches even what she does not know, a middle-aged teacher teaches only what she knows, and an old teacher teaches only What is necessary. Twenty years ago, as a middle-aged teacher, I wrote a little book on discernment, called Silent Presence. Recently, as an old teacher, I was asked to write a summary statement on the topic. Here it is. It will appear as an epilogue when Dimension Books republishes the book, which is undergoing wholesale revision for its renewed life. What, then, is necessary for discernment? Discernment as Process and Problem Discernment has two focuses: process and problem. It is pro-cess insofar as it is a progressive awareness of the movements of the spirits in our consciousness. The "spirits" are thoughts, desires, and affective moods, which are the telltale signs of the Holy Spirit or opposing influences. In the discernment process we become more sensitive to the movements of grace or the temptation to sin in our lives. Discernment is mindfulness, recollection, centeredness. It is being aware of what is going on spiritually. Ernest E. Larkin OCarm wrote about St. TMr~se for our September- October issue last year. His address is Kino Institute; 1224 East Northern; Phoenix, Arizona 85020. Review for Religious Discernment as problem solving is interpreting thespirits in order to determine God's will. Where are these feelings and sen-timents tending? Are they moving the person toward or away from God? What behavior and choices are they suggesting? Discernment is not concerned with the emotional or physiological sources of these feelings, but only with their trajectory or orientation. Where are they pointing? God leads us by means of these secondary causes. The two functions of discernment coalesce in our daily, moment-to-moment responses to God calling us forth in the concrete situations of daily life. This process is the "obedience of faith" (Rm 1:5), which is saying no to selfishness and yes to tran-scendence. We are called to live beyond rote rules and in accord with God's particular will for us. The ordinary teaching and ministry of the church provide the boundaries or the playing field. But God leads each of us one by one in the community of the church. God's project for me is that I become the unique person I was created to be. Discernment is the tool for the process. The How of Discernment There are three ways of evaluating our experiences. One is cognitive: we use our heads to analyze the experiences, we objectify the experiences, and we hold them before our eyes to understand and interpret them. The other two ways involve our heart: I call one mystical, the other affective; in these two ways we feel our way to the conclusion. Cognitive discernment stays on the level of thinking. It thinks about holy thoughts and desires and their unholy counterparts as well. It asks which are which, with a view to following the good and avoiding the evil. It makes a judgment based on theoretical knowl-edge about what is virtuous and what is not. This endeavor prescinds from the affective states; in cognitive discernment the feelings are beside the point. The norm is right reason and good sense. Mystical discernment is the experience of ourselves being lifted up to God in loving surrender. At the time there is no contrary movement of affectivity; experiencing a mystical grace, we have no doubt that we are in God and God is in us. Affective discernment involves an awareness of the comings and goings of a divided affectivity. We note the ambivalence in our lives between yeses and noes to God. We observe both positive and negative March-April 2001 Larkin ¯ What to Know about Discernment affections over the same one issue, the positive ones being love, peace, commitment (all of which are signs of God's presence) and the negative ones being anxiety, alienation, rebelliousness (potential obstacles between us and God). In the to-and-fro of this experience, we sense the calling of God. A simple image may clarify this matter. Each of us is like a cone standing on its point and divided by a horizontal plane halfway up. The upper half is our conscious self, our soul or psy-che; the lower half is our spirit. God dwells in the depths of our spirit at the point of the cone. He may activate his role as the point of the cone by letting our whole being sink more deeply into himself so that our deeply spiritual sense of contact with him is now much more than a point; it is a complete circle, a divine interface, a total saturation--this is the mystical grace referred to above. Or his action, instead of being mystical, may consist of helpful waves sent from the point through our being, waves that reverberate in our consciousness along with contrary movements from our old self. Affective discernment takes note of these contrary and selfish iinpulses as well as the resonances of God's presence. A sense of that presence and absence emerges. Discernment takes place in the upper, conscious level of our being. In the mystical grace, the spirit dominates the psyche; the whole person feels raised up by God, by the sovereign action of Love. The consciousness of this divine gift is the mystical dis-cernment. The person experiences wholeness, peace, humility, a joyous faith, hope, and charity, along with immense gratitude and all the fruits of the Spirit (Ga 5:22). There are no contrary affections as long as the experience lasts. The recipient knows and loves God and all that God stands for; at this point there is complete submission to the divine will, which is intimated in the exchange. The action of grace in our being is not usually so total. Grace builds on nature and meets people where they are in their spiritual journey. Most people do not have perfect purity of heart; they are divided in their allegiance to God. So the Holy Spirit enters their consciousness via holy thoughts and desires; these are actual graces. They vie for attention and acceptance against the contrary entice-ments of the world, the devil, and one's own unredeemed self. God's action does not wholly envelop the person. Part of the person is lifted up in noble sentiments, but another part is reneg-ing and lagging behind; part is saying yes and part no. Affective dis- Review for Religious cernment senses these two directions in the affections themselves and interprets them intuitively as by a sixth sense. We thus have three ways of doing discernment, one of them following objective norms and two of them reading the affections. In actual practice, discernment usually is a mixture of the cogni-tive and the affective, with occasional experiences of the mysti-cal. We now address each of these three at greater length. Cognitive Discernment Cognitive discernment applies appropriate knowledge of the spiritual life to the issues at hand. Teresa of Avila puts a high pre-mium on learning in spiritual directors, whose function is to assist in the process of discernment by confirming or questioning the conclusions of the client. Her teaching on the importance of knowledge in the spiritual life is germane here. She wants both experience and learning in the spiritual guide. But, if forced to choose between the two qualities, she favors experience (see her Autobiography, her Vida, chap. 13), but she always prizes the confir-mation of a learned person. What knowledge is involved in discernment? Knowledge of God's ways as revealed in the Scriptures, wisdom gleaned from the sages of Israel, from Jesus, and from the New Testament, knowl-edge of the spiritual life as it has developed in history. The knowl-edge is about human beings as much as it is about God. Today some knowledge of depth psy-chology is presumed. The ancients and the medieval writers did not have the benefit of Freud, Jung, or Adler, but they knew human nature in its mysterious vagaries. Applied psychology in programs like the enneagram, Myers-Briggs, transactional analysis, and the stages of growth in Erikson and his successors is helpful. All sources of knowledge about ourselves and our world are potential helps: anthropology, biography, literature, even journals of current events that record "signs of the times," indications of what God is doing in the world today. Discernment usually is a mixture of.the cognitive and the affective, with occasional experiences of the mystical. March -April 2 O01 Larkin ¯ What to Know about Discernment Cognitive discernment is the way for beginners, who by def-inition struggle with disordered affections and moral limitations and cannot trust their feelings to be indicators of the divine presence. Beginners need to recognize their feelings, own them, and act beyond them by hewing to the line set by objective crite-ria.° This is the teaching of the rules for discernment for the First Week of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola. The rules suggest what feelings to expect at the beginning and along the way and how to handle them. The beginners' immediate goal is purity of heart, freedom of spirit, detachment, indifference, all of which terms are basically synonymous. This condition is the prerequisite for exercising affective and mystical discernment. Cognitive discernment is not limited to beginners. Mature Christians use it when they are not experiencing turbulence or strong desires. At such times they work up the pertinent informa-tion in two columns (pros and cons) and make a rational decision, confirming the decision if possible by a subsequent affective dis-cernment. St. Ignatius calls this mode of decision-making the "third time," his "first time" being mystical discernment and his "second time" affective discernment. Prayer and consultation are part of all discernment, as is confirmation by the community, usu-ally through a representative like a spiritual director. The execution of cognitive discernment may be assisted by one or more of the following suggestions: (1) Examine an area of your life such as pra~er, relationships, or ministry by reading some basic reflection on the topic and consulting your conscience on your own performance. (2) Look for models or ways to proceed in people who faced similar questions or situations (such as making a vocational choice or dealing with a significant loss). (3) Listen attentively tO what others say about you in praise or criticism for insights into self-knowledge. (4) Collect words of wisdom that may help you understand a specific question,, such as the follow-ing words of Anthony De Mello about relationships: "You are pre-cious to me, but you are not my life. My life is distinct and separate from you. I thank you for coming into my life. Good-bye." Mystical Discernment "The love of God poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Spirit" (Rm 5:5) orients one's life to God. It roots a person in God and constitutes the state of grace. One may experience this grace Review for Religious as a special mystical gift. This experience is an awareness of one's whole person surrendered to God in faith, hope, and love. This experience is the perception of one's true self in a pure state, with-out any mixture of contrary desire. It is called mystical discernment because it depends on God's free action and the content of one's mind and heart, and their contentedness, are entirely of God. Mystical discernment is the first principle of affective discernment, for it represents the fullness against which subse-quent movements toward God are measured. These lesser affective movements are not the experience of total surrender; they are graces promoting love for God and are experienced positively because they are consonant with the original experience of the pure love of God. St. Ignatius calls them consolations. They are virtuous affections, expe-rienced as harmonious with the fun-damental option; they come across as feelings of well-being, authen-ticity, peace, and love. Their opposites are called des-olations by Ignatius; they obstruct one's surrender to God. They are negative feelings or reactions, and they come across as disruptive, alienating, and destructive. While the good movements are con-gruent with one's ultimate orientation to God, these bad spirits or sentiments oppose submission to God. Affective discernment.moves back and forth between these two sets, whereas in mystical discernment there is only consola-tion- in Ignatius's classic words, "consolation without previous cause" (Spiritual Exercises, §330). This grace is the spontaneous, unmerited inbreaking of God that absorbs the whole person in the love of God. No previous acts of the person explain its presence. It is the gustos of Teresa of Avila, which she calls the prayer of quiet; it is the experience of mystical union in both Teresa and John of the Cross. In this experience one discerns one's true self, not through knowledge about one's self, but through personal, intuitive con-tact. One "knows" God and knows one's self in the union with God, in the way St. Paul wants to "know Christ and the power of Mystical and affective discernment do not establish what is right and wrong; these matters are to be decided by moral reasoning. Malvh-April 2001 Larkin ¯ What to Know about Discernment his resurrection and the fellowship of his suffering" (Ph 3:10). Paul seeks an affective experience, not abstract knowledge. This affective knowledge is not new truths or objective moral theology about right and wrong. Mystical and affective discernment do not establish what is right and wrong; these matters are to be decided by moral reasoning. The discernment has to do with one's sub-jective stance before God; it is about recognizing and responding in freedom to grace, and thus it is about being good, not about being right--just as people sometimes do the right thing for the wrong reason. In mystical discernment there is no intrusion of the false self. The false self is the part of one's being that is not rooted in God. It does not come out of the spirit, but is the construction of one's own ego, a figment of one's imagination and feelings. One must be careful, therefore, not to confuse mere euphoria or "sensible con-solations" in prayer with this special grace. Visions and locutions, even when miraculous, are likewise experiences of the psychic self, on the level of imagination; they are not the same grace as "con-solation without previous cause." The distinctive mark of this truly mystical grace is wholeness: body, soul, and spirit are touched by God. The true self includes all of these. What happens in that mystical union with God, therefore, is totally of God. The false self may awaken after the event and masquerade as part of the gift in the afterglow of the mystical experience. Ignatius warns about this danger (Spiritual Exercises, §336). These subsequent thoughts and affections, like visions and locutions themselves, are to be treated like all other particular ideas and feelings: they must be submitted to cognitive or affective discernment. Typical questions that may help to identify the mystical expe-rience are the following: (1) Is the experience a fantasy, euphoria gone wild, a projection, or wishful thinking, or does it represent my actual self, my reality, my truth? (2) Is the exaltation of this experience corroborated by high standards of moral attitudes and behavior? (3) Is there congruence between the experience and my deepest desires? Affective Discernment The true self and the false self at work in ordinary conscious-ness are good handles for grasping this normal and recommended way of doing discernment. Both of these parts of one's being Review for Religious express themselves in thoughts, desires, feelings, moods, and sentiments. The true self is in touch with the spirit as well as with the soul or psyche. When it operates, there is an element of whole-ness and peace along with other virtuous attitudes and movements. The false self has no roots in the spirit, is superficial and disinte-grated, and acts only at the level of imagination and emotion, with no regard for basic spiritual truth and goodness. Its hallmarks are fragmentation, alienation, irritation, and the seven capital sins. Ordinary Christians live in the state of grace; they are com-mitted to the true self. But whole areas of their lives ha

Issue 9.2 of the Review for Religious, 1950. ; MARGH° 15, 1950 Diocesan or PonHfical ? 'Joseph F. Galle. 'Virtue of Faith . John M~hews Oh'Controversy . ~. Gera[~Kelly Works:of God Manifest . .Dominic Hughes (;)uesHons and Answers Book Reviews Communications Report to Rome VOLUME IX NUMBER 2 Ri::VII::W FOR RI:::LI IOUS VOLUME IX MARCH, 1950 NUMBER 2 CONTENTS DIOCESAN OR PONTIFICAL ?--Joseph F. Gallen, S.J . 57 THE VIRTUE OF FAITH IN THE SPIRITUAL LIFE-- John Matthews, S.J . 69 OUR CONTRIBUTORS . 72 ON CONTROVERSY~ (An Editorial)--Gerald Kelly, S.J . 73 SEARCHLIGHTING ~URSELVES . 77 WORKS OF GOD MADE MANIFEST--Dominic Hughes, O.P. . 78 FATHER ELLARD'S REPLY . 91 COMMUNICATIONS . 95 SUMMER SESSION . 96 BOOK REVIEWS-- The Mother of the Savior and Our Interior Life; Ignatlan Methods of Prayer; Little Catechism of Prayer . ~ . 97 BOOK NOTICES . " . 100 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS . 101 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS-- 7. Abandoned Wife Entering Religion . 104 8. Extending Postulancy, Novitiate, etc . 105 9. Postulancy outside Novitiate . 106 I0. Dowry When Transferring to Contemplative Order . 106 11. Sick Religious and Daily Communion . 107 12. Genuflections in,Chapel . 108 REPORT TO ROME . 108 THOUGHTS ON ST. JOSEPH . 112 IN MEMORIAM (Alf'red F. Schneider, S.J.) . 1 12 REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, March, 1950. Vol. IX, No. 2. 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 of March 3, 1879. Editorial Board: Adam C. Ellis, S.J., G. Augustine Ellard, S.J., Gerald Kelly. 8.J. Copyright, 1950, by Adam C. Ellis. Permission is hereby granted for quotations of reasonable length, provided due credit be given this review and the author. Subscription price: 2 dollars a year. Printed in U. S. A. Before wrltln9 to us, please cons,,It notice on Inside back cover. Diocesan or Pont:ific l? ¯Joseph F. Gallen, S.J. THE following pages constitute ~in effqrt to answer two practical canonical' questions: (1) should a diocesan congregation "Con-fine' itself to the diocese of origin? (2) should a' diocesa'n congregation become pontifical? These are very. important questions for many institutes. They are also questions to which angwers can. be given that are based solely on personal knowledge and espe'ciallT on personal preference. Such knowledge can be inadequate and the preference can be very subjective. Therefore, I l~ave tried to avoid mere.personal opinion and to base the answers primarily on the mind and 'v~ill of the Holy See and secondarily on the opinions that com-monly exist in the Church as found in approved authors. ~" I. DiSti~'~tion of Defi'nition between a Pontifical and a "" Diocesan Congregatiqn~ . . :,~., It is by no means unusual to encounter the mistaken opiniqfi.th, a~ a, diocesan religious institute is one that. is confined to a particul.ar. diocese and a pontifical institute one that has houses in seve.ral di0,- ceses. These false definitions are deafly excluded by canon 488, 3°: "'institute app~ou.ed bg the Hqlg See. (Religio iuris pontifical), ~every institute which has obtained from. the Apostolic S~e either ~p~r.o.-'.~ ba~ion'~o~'i.a.t, leas.t.the decree of commendation (decretur~,'l~udis)t;i Diocesan Institute, an institute erected by Ordinaries, which ~has ~not y~.t:.o."bthined this" decre~ ofcommendation.". Thu's the diStinCtiOn between a pontifical and a diocesan congregation has in itself nothing Whatever to do with territorial diffusion; it is based sblely on the p~es.ende or'absbnce of approval by the Holy See. We shall see tha~ a diocesan institute is also destined to spread to many dioceses, and d~ffu~ion~ to'. rrian~r diocese~ is only an ordinary, not ari absolfitel prerequisite for obtaifiing papal opproyal. In actual fact there are diocesan;. congregati6ns in the United 'States that haCce spread to several dioceses., It is equally true that some pontifical congregation~ in~thi~ c6dh~ry are confined to one diocese. ~All religious orders are pontifical institutes, since the approbation of 'an order is reserved to the Ho!y See. Ther?fore, institutes such as those of the Carmelite Nuns, Dominican Nuns, Poor Clares, Sacra-mentirie'Nuns, and Visithndines are pontifical. A religi0ds order is 57 JOSEPH F. GA'LLEN Review for Religious ¯ an institute whose particular law pr~scribes that at least some of the subjects at least should take solemn vows (can. 488, 2°). The hope of clarifying this o'ften misunderstood definitio'n is the justificat.for the tautology. It is not required that all of the members of the institute, but it is s~f~cient that only some of these, should either actually take solemn vows or be obliged to do so by the law of the institute. An institute can also be an order even if none of the mem-bers actually take solemn vows. It is sufficient that some should do so from the particular law of the institute.1 Solemn vows are not taken in mo~t of the monasteries of nuns in the United States, yet all of these institutes are orders since at least some of the members should take solemn vows in virtue of the particular law of the institute.2 A religious congregation is an institute in which all the members actually take simple vows, whether perpetual or temporary, and in which none of the members should take solemn vows in virtue of the law of the institute (canon 488, 2°). No religious institute can exist in the Church that has not been approved by legitimate ecclesi-astical authority. The foundation of a religious institute may certai.nly be approved by the Roman Pontiff, but in practice it is approved by the ordinary of the diocese of foundation. This approval of the local ordinary makes the congregation a diocesan institute. ~For example, article 37 of the Constitutions of the Ursuline Nuns of the Congre-gation of Paris, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. reads as follows: "By tight, these vows are solemn vows, as they were so approved by holy Church at the beginning: but, in fact, in this country, by disposition of the Holy See, they are only simple vows." Article 641 of the Constitutions of Dominican Nuns reads: "Those Nuns of our Order whose vows are, by constitution, solemn but who because of circumstances of time (cgn. 488, 70), by prescription of the Apostolic See, make only. simple VOWS . " -°In 1864 the Holy See declared the following monasteries of Visitation Nuns in the United States had solemn vows: Washington, (Georgetown), Baltimore (Roland Park), Mobile, St. Louis, and Kaskaskia. The last-mentioned later united with its daughter community in St. Louis. Mo. Since 1864 the monasteries that follow have received a rescript from the Holy See granting solemn vows. The year of the rescript is put in parentheses. Carmelite Nuns of the Ancient Observance: Allentown (1931): Discalced Carmelite Nuns: Philadelphia (1902, but solemn vows were first taken in 1925), Wheeling (1925), Bettendorf (1949), Louisville (1930), Morristown (1926), Loretto (1932), Rochester (1930), Mobile (1943), New Brunswick (1948): Dominican Nuns: Detroit (1929, Menlo Park (1929), West Springfield, Mass, (1928): Dominican Nuns of the Perpetual Rosary: Buffalo (1944), Camden (1947), Syracuse (1947): Poor Clare Nuns: Cleveland (1946); Franciscan Nuns of the Most Blessed Sacrament: Cleveland (1912), Canton (1925, but solemn vows were first taken in 1950): Nuns of Perpetual Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament (Spanish speaking) : E1 Paso (1930) : Visita-tion Nuns: Elfindale, Springfield, Mo. (1888). Solemn vows are taken in the Oriental Order of St. Basil the Great. Four other monasteries have applied for solemn vows¯ 58 March, 1950 DIOCESAN OR DONTIFICAL? After an initial period of growth the congregation usually peti-tidns the Holy See for papal approval. The attainment of papal approval makes the congregation a pontifical institute. It is sufficient that the Holy See approve either the institute or the constitutions. The present ordinary practice of the Holy See is to approve both. In answer to the first petition of the congregation for papal approval, the Holy See gives its first approval to the" institute by what is called a decree of praise or commendation. At the same time the Holy See gives a temporary and experimental approval to the.constitutions for a determined period of time, which now is usually seven years. At the end of this time the congregation sends another petition to Rome. The Holy See then gives a final approbation to the constitutions and, frequently at least, a definitive approbation to the institute.3 The practice of the Holy See can vary in many matters, and it has varied in the present case of the approval of religious congrega-tions. It is possible to find congregations that have long possessed papal approval and yet discern that the constitutions alone were approved by the Holy See. A doubt could and did arise as to the sufficiency of an approval of the constitutions alone, since the Code definition of a pontifical institute appears to be confined to a decree of~ praise or approbation of the institute. However, the presumption always is that a canon agrees with the pre-'Code law, and Leo XIII had originally defined pontifical institutes as those "in which in addi-tion the sentence of the Roman Pontiff has intervened, either by approval of their laws and statutes or also by the granting of praise or approbation.TM In this definition the approval of the constitu-tions is not only sufficient but apparently primary. All doubt was removed by a reply of the Sacred Congregation of Religious that the Sisters of Mercy, founded by Mother McAuley, were pontifical, whether it was a question of the independent communities or of the unions that had been established with the approval of the Holy See.5 3For the present practice of the Holy See, cf. P. Cosmas Sartori, O.F.M., duris-prudentiae Ecclesiasticae Elernenta (Romae: Pontif. Athenaeum Antonianum, 1946)~ p. 74. 4Leo XIII, Const. "'Conditae a Christo,'" 8 dec. 1900, Codicis luris Canonici Fontes III. p. 562. The same definition is repeated twice in the constitution. Cf., pp. 563, 564. nThis particular reply of Nov. 24, 1925, undoubtedly because of its general import, was published in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, XVIII (1926), 14. It can be found in English in Bouscaren, Canon Law Digest, I, pp. 269-270. Valuable commen-taries on the reply have been written by. Maroto, Cornrnentariurn Pro Religiosis, VII (1926), 83-92: and Vermeersch, Periodica, XV (1927), 52-53. To any-one unaware of this reply the distinctive constitutions of the independent com-munities can' cause difficulty as to their pontifical character. 59 .JOSEPH F. GALLEN Review foF Religious The constitutions alone of the Sisters of Mercy were approved by the Holy See in 1841. The same thing is apt to be true of any.congrer gation of religious women approved before 1850, because of the varying practice of the Holy See in approving religious congregations. Therefore, a congregation is made pontifical by any one or m6re of the following.four approvals: approval of the institute by either a decree of praise or of definitive approbation; approval of the con-stitutions either experimentally or finally. To all congregations that have received any one of these approvals are equally applied" the rights, laws, and obligations of pontifical institutes. II. Should a Diocesan Congregation Confine Itself to the Diocese of Origin? 1. The Code of Cation Lau;.--Canon 495, § 1 reads: "A dioce-san religious congregation cannot establish houses in another diocese without the consent of both Ordinaries, namely: the Ordinary of the place where the motherhouse is situated and the Ordinary of' the place where it is desired to make the new foundation, but the Ordi- .nary of the place of delSarture, shall not without a grave reason refuse his, consent." For the first house to be erected by a dlocesan.institt~te in anothe~ diocese, this canon requires the permission not only of the ordinary of~the new house but also of the ordinary of the mother-house. We can s.ee in this law of the Code an implicit affirmation of the closer guardianship, of the greater interest, supervision, and direc-tion that the ordinary of the diocese of origin is to exercise over a diocesan congregation in the early years of its existence. The same canon explicitly forbids the ordinary of the mother? house to refuse permission for the erection of a house in another diocese unless he has not merely a. reasonable or a just reason but a serious reason for the refusal. The .Code of Canon Law, therefore, implicitly states that it is the or~linary thing for a diocesan institute to spr,ead to other dioceses and that this diffusion can be prevented only by reason of a serious obstacle. It cannot be held that thi~ seri-ous obstacle is ordinarily tO be fouiad in diocesan institutes.' If this-were factually tr.ue, there would be little sense in the law of the Code that forbids the ordinary'of the motherhouse to refuse the permissi?n, and the law would rather read: "and the Ordinary of the mother~ house may grant this permission in extraordinary cases.',Y Therefore, the" law 'of the Code is that confinement to one" dioces~ sli'~.uld ble restricted to the early years of the existence-of.a, diocesan dongrega:- fi0n wl~en the institute is a.c.qujri, ng strength rand:.sta,,~:ilit.~.: .~T.h.!.s. 60 March, 1950" DIOCESAN OR PONTIFICAL? period should not be excessively prolonged. Diffusion to other dioceses is a usual prerequisite for obtaining papal approval, but the Holy See stated before the Code of Canon Law that ten or fifteen years from the time of the foun'dation of the first house of theinsti-tute could suffice for the presentation of a petition for papal approval.6 2. Documents of the Holy See.--The Holy See both before and after the Code of Canon Law has issued norms that are to guide the local ordinaries in the erection of new institutes. One of the most important of these norms is that the ordinary, rather than found a n~w congregation, is to invite and admit into his diocese a congrega-tion already approved that has the purpose desired by the ordinary. In speaking of these congregations already approved the Holy See makes no distinction between pontifical and diocesan congregations.) Therefore, the Holy See again positively implies that diocesan insti-tutes are not to be confined to the diocese of origin. 3. Doctrine of authors.--Two authors, Fogliassos and Muzza-relli, 9 have recently made detailed studies into the juridical nature of diocesan congregations. Fogliasso states: "Certainly a diocesan con-gregation, even though it consists of only one house, unlike a mon-astery of nuns, is an organism that bg its verst nature tends to uni-versality . The purpose of the disposition of canon 495, § 1 is to prevent the local ordinary of the motherhouse from impeding the ordered diffusion of a new congregation. This diffusion together with spiritual fruits is required for the granting of a decree of praise. Furthermore, recourse can always be made to the Holy See against the arbitrary opposition of this ordinary. Therefore, the norm of canon 495, § I, while it immediately, furthers the fundamental liberty of a new congregation, which is the attainment of its own increase, paves the way for the congregation to reach the prescribed condition by which, through means of a decree of praise, it may take its place 6Normae Secundum Quas 8. Congr. Episcoporum et Regulariura Procedere Sofet in Approbandis Novis lnstitutis Votorurn Simpliciurn, 28 iun. 1901, n. 9. ~Leo XII][, Const. "'Conditae a Christo,'" § 1, III, C. I. C. Fontes, III, p. 563; Pius X, Motu Propr. "Dei providentis,'" 15 iul. 1906, C. I. C. Fontes, III, p. 675; S. C. de Prop. Fide, Instr., "'De Congregationibus Religiosis lndigenis Condendis,'° 19 mart. 1937, n. 1, AAS XXIX (1937), 276. SAemilius Fogliasso, S.D.B., lntroductio in Vigentem Disciplinara de luridicis Re-lationibus inter Religiones et Ordinarium Loci (Augustae Taur[norum: Schola T}'pographica Salesiana, 1948). 9Fridericus MuzzareIli, S.S.P., Tractatus Canonicus de Congregationibus luris Di-oecesani (Romae: apud Piam Societatem a S. Pau[o Aposto[o, 1943). 61 JOSEPH F. GALLEN Review for Religious among pontifical institutes.''~° Muzzarelli expresses the same doctrine: "The nature of a diocesan congregation precisely as diocesan is universal only in potency and capacity . . . indeed the mind of "the Holy See with regard to these congregations is not that from their foundation they should be aSso-lutely confined within the boundaries of one diocese. They are rather considered as the first stage, the first phase of juridical et~olution. When this evolution is completed they become pontifical and uni-versal in fact and in law . Hence it generally happens that these congregations become multidiocesan in a short time and l~hus are uni-versal in fact . If the ordinary (of the motherhouse) should refuse his consent, recourse is always open to the Holy See.''11 Father Vidal, S.J., whose eminence as a canonist and years of service as a consultor of various Roman Congregations should qualify him to know the mind and prac.tice of the Holy See, affirms: ". the ordinary of the place of dephrture is forbidden to refuse his " consent except for a serious reason (canon 495, § 1) ; and recourse against an unreasonable refusal would always be open to the Sacred Congregation, which will usually lend a ready ear to such a recourse, unless there is question of an institute that is faring badly and is destined rather for extinction.''x~ The doctrine that a diocesan institute should at least ordinarily spread to other dioceses is held implicitly by many of the authors mentioned below, who teach that diocesan congregations should ¯ become pontifical, since diffusion to other dioceses is in the practice of the Holy See an ordinary prerequisite for obtaining papal approval. 4. Diffusion does not imply separation.--Diffusion to other dioceses is the second phase of the natural growth of a diocesan con-gregation to the juridical maturity of a pontifical congregation. Evidently diffusion does not impiy but excludes separation from the houses of the diocese of origin. Canon 495, § 1 is speaking of the spread of the same institute to other dioceses, not of the erection of. new institutes in other dioceses. The fear of separation, however, can exist. The diffusion of diocesan and even of pontifical congrega-tions to other dioceses of the United States in the last century very frequently was followed by a separation from the houses of the diocese of origin (and the same thing occurred in other countries). ~-0Fogliasso, op. cir., 160-161. The italics in this and subsequent citations are mine. XlMuzzarelli, op. cir., nn. 51, 123. xZWernz-Vidal, Ius Canonicum, III, "De Religiosis,'" n. 61. 62 March, 1950 DIOCESAN OR PONTIFICAL Fortunately, many of these separated congregations have ultimately at least prospered in vocations and in the extent and excellence of their lives and work. These happy consequences have not always been verified. Some of these congregations are still small in number of subjects, and they toil in vain for increase in the rocky territories of few Catholics and few vocations. It would obviously .have been much better if they had remained.united to houses located in dioceses that are more fertile in vocations and also financially. Furthermore, such separations were not of their nature conducive to a progressive improvement in the spiritual and intellectual formation of subjects. These separations may not be effected now without the permission of the Holy See, since the separation would involve at least the erec-tion of a new institute and also the passing of professed religious from one institute to another, both of which require recourse to the Holy See (canons 492, § 1; 632). III. Should a Diocesan Congregation become Pontifical? 1. The Code of Canon Latv.--To Father Arcadio Larra-ona, C.M.F., the present undersecretary of the Sacred Congregation of Religious, we are especially indebted for evolving the answer from the Code of Canon Law. Father Larraona calls attention to the definition in the Code of a diocesan congregation, which is not described as one that has been approved by a local ordinary or as one that does not possess or has not obtained a decree of commendation but as one, "that has not yet (nondum) obtained this decree of com-mendation (canon 488, 3°).'' Thus the very definition of a dioce-san congregation in the Code of Canon Law manifests that it is only in an initial and transitory state and in the first phase of a juridical evolution that is to terminate in the attainment of pontifical approval,la Larraona could have derived the same conclusion from canon 492, § 2. The argument is clearer in the translation of Woywood- Smith, although it can also be d~duced from the Vatican translation. This canon reads: "A diocesan congregation retains that character though it has in the course of time spread to several dioceses, and it remains completely under the jurisdiction of the bishops, until it has obtained from the Holy See approval or, at least, the decree of praise." The Vatican translation of this last and pertinent clause is: "as long as it is without pontifical approval or the decree of commendation." The Code here again does not consider a diocesan congregation to be laLarraona, Cornmentarium Pro Religiosis, II (192 I), 284. 63 JOSEPH F. GALLEN Review for Religious . in a definitive but only in an initial and temporary state. 2. The initiative of bishops.--The most°manifest testimony of the i.nspiration, encouragement, and support of bishops to diocesan congregations becoming pontifical is the vast number of congr.egations that ha~e been approved by the Holy See. This support of bishops wa~ evident at an early date in the era of pontifical approval of congregations of Sisters. The Provinci.al Council of Avignon, held in 1849, enacted the following norm for the bishops of the province: "That [Sisters] may conform their lives to that prescribed by the rule they have professed and observe their constitutions and praiseworthy customs, that the constitutions also may have a greater authority, the bishops are to take care as' soon as possible that these be approved by the Holy See,. if they have not already been approved.''14 The bishops of the Plenary Council of Latin America, celebrated in 1899, established a similar law: "Since in congregations that have spread into several dioceses and whose constitutions have not as yet been submitted to the examination, correction, and approbation of the Holy See, here and there things have been done in good faith that are contrary to the laws and mind of the Hoist See, we decree that, the prescriptions of law being observed, such congregations which, in the judgment of the bishops, increase and give good expectations to the Church shall submit their statutes to the judgment of and petition the approval of the Holy See.''1~ 3. The doctrine of authors. Especially in this important ques-tion authors are cited primarily to manifest the mind and the will of the Holy See and also to give the answer that is generally held in the Church. Greater attention should clearly be given to the canonists who are acknowledged specialists in the field of canon law for religious. LARRAONA: This author has been engaged since 1920 in writing an exhaustive explanation of the canons on religious in the Cormnentariurn Pro Religiosis. The greatest tribute to his authority is the frequency and respect with which he is generally cited by other authors. Writing of pontifical and diocesan congregations before the Code of Canon Law, he states that diocesan congregations were not considered "as something fixed and stable but as incomplete entities, tending by their nature to juridical perfection, which in the second 14Concilium Provinciae Avenionensis, Collectio Lacensi#, tom. IV, col. 351, n. 2. l~Acta et Decreta Con¢ilii Plenarii Americae Latinae (Roinae: Typis Vaticanis, 1902), n. 324. 64 March, 1950 DIOCESAN OR PONTIFICAL? category, that is, in pontifical congregations, alone appeared to be found.''10 This same doctrine, although not with the same urgency, he later applies to diocesan congregations after the Code of Canon Law.17 He likewise affirms: ".-. the constitution of a di6cesan congregation is not very conducive to the internal unity, strength and liberty of diffusion of the institute. The result is that diocesan con-gregations have scarcely begun to evolve and to be diffused when they are borne along almost by their own weight to become pontifical, which corresponds completely to the mind of the Holy See.''~s He styles the diocesan state of a congregation as the novitiate of the insti-tute and says of this novitiate: ". the Sacred Congregation has tended and now tends to surround this [diocesan state] with suffi-cient protection and to affirm it as transitory by representing this state to the eyes of both the bishops and the congregation as a period of probation, which should not be prolonged longer than is necessary to test the spirit and stability of the.congregation and for it to obtain some diffusion. When this test has been surpassed, it is undoubtedly the mind of the Hol~l See that a decree of commendation should be requested.''1° He continues: "Unless congregations become pontifical when they reach the above maturity, experience certainly proves that they can scarcely preserve their unity of spirit, of ministries, and of government. Consequently the.i.r internal force and solidity is almost necessarily exposed to positive dangers, or at least the congre-gation is uselessly hindered and its tendency for diffusion and expan-sion impeded.''u° In another work he reaffirms the same principle: "From the nature of the case a unity of government is scarcely pos-sible if the government itself is practically divided into as many parts as there are dioceses in which the institute has houses.''~ Other passages could be cited from this outstanding author to confirm the doctrine he states above that the diocesan state of a congregation is of its very nature transitory and the mind of the Holy See is that such congregations should seek papal approval after the initial period of probation and diffusion. 16Larraona, 17Larraona, lSLarraona, 10Larraona, 20Larraona, Commentariura Pro Religiosis, I (1920), 137. ibid., II (1921)', 284. ibid., II (1921), 284. ibid., V (1924), 146. ibid., V (1924), 146. ~aLarraona, Acta Congressus luridici Internationalis, IV, "'De Potestate Dorainativa Publica in lure Canon&o," p. 153, nota 17. JOSEPH F: GALLEN Reoieto [or Religious FOGLIASSO22 and. MUZZARELLIz~ accept and assert the doc-trine of Larraona, but the latter adds: ". especially when a con-gregation has spread to distant territories a practical necessity exists of asking for a decree of praise and approval of the con'stitutions from the Holy See, if one wishes to provide for the security, unity, and becoming expansion of the entire institute.''24 BASTIEN, who is a most eminent authority on the canon law for institutes of simple vows, states in the editions of his book pub-lished both before and after the Code of Canon Law: "The condi-tion of a diocesan congregation, as described in the preceding pages, is rather precarious; spread in different dioceses, they are dependent upon various bishops, without a sufficiently strong central authority. No wonder, then, that the. Holg See desires them to leave this initial stage, and exhorts them to present their constitutions [or its ap-proval."~ 5 BATTANDIER, who is of equal authority on institutes of simple vows, states in the same editions of his hook: "But the,dioce-san institute can naturally have the desire to attach itself more closely to the Apostolic See, which will give more authority to its govern-ment, more stability to its laws, and will permit it to be assured of the future.''~° Among the authors who have expressed their opinion less strongly are the following: CREUSEN-ELLIS: "When the new institute shall have devel-oped sufficiently and shall have shown by the test of time the value of its religious spirit and its unity, it may ask of the Holy See a posi-tive approbation.''27 "The Code does not provide for the erection of provinces in an institute which is purely diocesan. When it has arrived at this importance, it should ask for approbation from Rome, which will make its life and its government more autonomous.''2s 22Fogliasso, op. cir., 160-161. Z3Muzzarelli, op. cit., nn. 51, 102. ~4Muzzarelli, op. cir., n. 102. ~SDom Pierre Bastien, O.S.B., Directoire Canonique a l'usage des Congrdgations ~ Voeux Simples (lst edit., 1904, Abbaye de Maredsous), n. 22; (4th edit., 1933. Bruges: Ch. Beyaert), n. 70. The translation is that of D. I. Lanslots, O.S.B., Handbook of Canon Law (New York: Pustet, 1931), n. 19. Lanslot's d!gest is based on Bastien. ~OMgr. Albert Battandier, Guide Canonique Pour Les Constitutions des Instituts Voeux Simples (Paris: Librairie Victor Lecoffre), 4th edit., 1908, n. 19; 6th edit., 1923, n. 20. :tTCreusen-Ellis, Religious Men and Women in the Code (Milwaukee: The .Bruce Publishing Company, 3rd English edition, 1940), n. 27. ~SCreusen-Ellis. ibid., n. 30. 66 March, 19 5 0 DIOCESAN OR PONTIFICAL? BOUSCAREN-ELLIS: "'It is the mind ot: the Church that after a diocesan congregation has developed its membership and spread to other dioceses, and has given satisfaction in its pursuit of good works, it may apply to the Holy See for pontifical approbation and thus become a po.ntifical institute.''2~ REGATILLO: "Diocesan congregations are not accustomed to be divided into provinces because when they are sufficiently diffused they become pontifical.''~° RAMSTEIN: "Since every religion of diocesan law normally entertains the hope of acquiring in time the status of a religion of papal approval . JOMBART: "A congregation spread into several dioceses and flourishing generally desires to become pontifical.''z2 "A multidioce-san and large congregation desires almost always to become pon-tifical, the better to safeguard its unity.''3~ Doctorate dissertations in canon law of the Catholic University of America have expressed similar opinions: ORTH: "The great difference that exists between episcopal and papal approbation is well known and, since the papal dxcels the epis-copal in extent, being wider and greater in effects and giving assur-ance of an unerring guidance, it is not in the least surprising that from the start, a new religious congregation will have this in view, to obtain a favorable decision'concerning itself from the Holy See. In its early stages a new community is still in an imperfect condition. Though entirely an autonomous society, yet it is subject to many restrictions on the part of the bishop. Besides formerly if it should chance to spread into other dioceses many things militated~ against unity which is a prime requisite in order that the institute preserve its original nature and purpose. In this respect nowadays it is welI pro-tected by the Code. The aim of the new society will be to have firmness and stability, to be enriched with all the privileges and favors of Mother Church, which aim will not be fully obtained unless it has received the seal of definite approbation from the Head of all christendom.''34 "The spread to other dioceses is considered ~t0Bouscaren-Ellis, Canon Law (Milwaukee: The Bruce Publishing Company, 1946), p. 234. Z0Regatillo, lnstitutiones luris Canonici (Santander: Sal Terrae, 1946), I, n. 650. 81Ramstein, A Manual of Canon Law (Hoboken: Terminal Printing ~ Publishing Co., 1947), p. 299. a22ombart, Traitd de Droit Canonique (Paris: Letouzey et Ane, 1946) I, n. 810, 2. 33Jombarr, ibid. 8'~C. R. Orth, O.M.C., The Approbation of Religious Institutes (Washington: The Catholic University of America, 193.1), p. 131. 67 JOSEPH 1::. GALLEN the best reason for asking the approbation of the Holy See, because in that case there would be as many heads as there are bishops of the places where the community is established and this multiplied gov-ernment is not conducive to unity.''s5 FARRELL: "When a congregation has received pontifical appro-bation many phases of its subjection are withdrawn from the local Ordinaries in whose territory the congregation exists, and this juris-diction is supplanted by direct subjection to the Holy See. Thus, unfettered by the divergencies of the multiplicity of diocesan juris-dictions, the congregation achieves an extensive opportunity to exer-cise in a wider way the autonomy of moral personality, affording a unity of purpose through the various ramifications of its internal government to accomplish more effectively the work and purpose of its foundation.''s° IV. Conclusion The reader is now in a position to give his own answers to the questions of this article. These answers should be based primarily on the mind and will of the Holy See and on the common opinion in the Church. If the will of the Holy See is evident with regard to any action, arguments in favor of or contrary to that action are simply a matter of indifference. The intrinsic arguments for seeking papal approval emphasized by the authors cited above are: (1) the government and the constitu-tions of the institute receive a greater authority; (2-) the central and internal government becomes stronger; (3) the unity of govern-ment, spirit, and ministries of the institute is preserved;. (4) the in-stitute is endowed with a greater stability and is thus better able to preserve its original nature-and accomplish its original purpose: (5) the life and government of the institute become more autono-mous; (6) the institute has a greater liberty of diffusion and thus of increase. To these can be added (7) the more autonomous character of the institute naturally begets a greater internal initiative; (8) the immediate subjection to the Head of all Christendom and the wider diffusion of the institute are more apt to engender the universal view-point of the Holy See; (9) the constitutions approved by the Holy See and examined and corrected by specialists will very likely possess a greater excellence and utility. s~Orth, ibid., p. 145. SOB. F. Farrell, The Rights and Duties of the Local Ordinary Regarding Congrega-tions, o[ Women Religious o[ Pontifical Approval (Washington: The Catholic Uni-versity of America Press, 194~1), p. 56. 68 The Vir :ue of F:ait:h in :he Spiri :ual Life ~lohn Matthews, S.~I. BY ITS BAPTISMAL BIRTH man's soul receives divine life for the first time. It takes on a wholly, new and higher life. A second life comes into the soul and into its powers of mind and will. While sanctifying grace lifts the soul to a divine way of life, the virtues of faith, hope, and charity fill man's mind and will with the strength he needs to live his higher life. Thus grace thrbugh faith, hope, and charity makes us new men with new minds and wills. But what is faith? Life means power; faith is a God-given power of our grace-life. Life means lasting power; on this earth the holy person always possesses faith. This faith is a virtue, a power to take God at His word. By faith in action we believe God just because it is God who has spoken. In faith we bend our minds to the authority of God, of God's Son 3esus Christ and of God's Church. Man has a duty of bowing his whole self before God; through faith be subjects his mind to God. Thus faith is belief in God because He knows and tells the truth; those who enjoy such faith we call the faithful. In our Christian life this virtue is absolutely necessary. ~¢ usually comes through baptism and is lost only by mortal sins against faith such as heresy and apostasy. So the grown-up without faith lives in serious sin and has turned himself away from both God and heaven. "But without faith it is impossible to please God" (Heb. 11:6)--in the way God wants to be pleased, honored, adored, loved and obeyed, i.e., in the supernatural way of life. Again, we need faith because it enters into every deed of our grace-life. In all these works faith is at least implicit. Lastly, as souls born of God, we must have faith. For, as the child must be able to take his parents at their word, so we must be able to believe our heavenly Father: and we do this by faith~ "For you are a11 the children of God by faith" (Gal, 3:26). This important virtue of which we speak is a supernatural gift. It forms part of the equipment by which holy souls live and grow in the divine life. With this faith we know truths man could never know of himself. All the genius of Aristotle, Shakespeare, and 69 JOHN MATTHEWS Review [orReligious Edison could never figure them out; all the power of all men's minds could, never guess them. For by faith we know divine truths in a divine way. We see with certainty what God has told men through Christ and the, Church;; we take a .deeper look into God's teachings; we view everything with a sight and understanding far beyond the human. Through faith, furthermore, we possess the mind of Christ. "But we have the mind of Christ" (1 Cot. 2 : 16). This is the new mind we receive along with the new life of grace. No longer do we think and plan in a merely human{ way but we think as Christ did, we plan as Christ planned, we value what Christ valued. We think holy thoughts; we know the truths Christ knew and chose to tell us; we accept His judgments and values on everything, e.g., on the world, on race and color, on the human soul. With the new mind of faith the supernatural man looks on all things in their relation to God and to his own salvation. This is faith at work--a living active fruitful faith: The virtue of faith, while itself interior, produces acts of faith both interior and exterior. Indeed, the faith of God's children must be a working faith. Such is the message of St. James in his Epistle. "For even as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead" (James 2:26). Possessing the mind of Christ, we must use that mind to live our divine life. For faith is the rock-foundation of our morals, our devotions, and our liturgy. Hence our holy deeds must be rooted in and must spring from faith in action. The "man of God must live by faith, and this he does when he bows his mind to divine truth on God's authority and when he guides his actions by that truth. Faith guides our actions by entering into there. It underlies and penetrates all our virtuous acts. The Catholic can hope for heaven only after faith tells him heaven exists. The faithful obey Christ's Church because faith assures them it is the true. church. Penitents by approaching the confessional bear witness to their faith that God's priest has power to forgive sins. In his belief that bap-tism is necessary for salvation, the Catholic father bears his child to the font of eternal life. Confirmed in faith, God's children adore the Eucharistic Christ, receive Holy Communion, and offer the Holy Sacrifice. As another instance of how faith penetrates.our life of holiness, let us consider charity. This latter virtue shows .itself in many diverse acts (1 Cot. 13:~r-8). There is the love of God above all 70 March, 1950 VIRTUE OF FAITH else, which we must practice in order to continue living the divine life. There are the works ofmercy, compassion' for one's fellow men, perfect contrition, almsgiying, the love of our neighbor in Christ, th~ expending of self for God's sake and for others. The reason why holy souls do these charitable deeds is the love of God in Himself and of men in God. But this infinite lovableness of God they know through.faith, which teaches them that God deserves to receive our purest love. Thus faith enters into our works of charity by supplying a supernatural reason for doing them. So too in all the circumstances of life does faith play its divinely assigned part. The truths we believe have power to overcome our human fear, weakness, and distrust of seIf. How often Our Savior spoke these words: "thy faith hath made thee whole" (Matt. 9:29; 15:28; Luke 8:48; 17:19). In the face of temptation, sickness, evil habits, poverty, andpersecution our faith gives us grounds for confidence that we can overcome all hardships in a Christlike man-ner. "This is the victory which overcometh the world, our faith" (1 dohn 5:4). In. order to see further the force and value of Catholic belief in the soul, let us view two men-~one with and the other without faith. On the death of a relative the latter can give only human sympathy, cannot help the deceased, can only send flowers and'can-not comfort the bereaved very'greatly. The real Catholic through his faith speaks words of divine sympathy. He helps both his dead relative and bereaved kinsfolk--by his comforting words, by his prayers and Masses and virtuous deeds. The soul without faith grieves as those "who have no hope" (I Thess. 4:13); the faithful soul sees in death God's will, entertains the hope of eternal happi-ness for his dear deceased, and offers his pain at bereavement to help his relative into heaven. Again the work of faith appears when these same men yisit a Catholic church. To the faithless person the church is a structure--perhaps, a thing of beauty; to the faithful, it is a home, a holy place, the house of God. For the former the stained-glass windows may be works of art; for the Catholic they serve to recall the mysteries of his religion and to hold his mind in prayer. In the opinion of the man without faith the baptismal font, confes-sional, and altar rail are the ordinary furnishings of a church; the child of God esteems them as sources of divine life in his soul. To his mind the tabernacle is no mere happening but the abode of Christ in the Eucharist; the altar is no chance property but the place of daily sacrifice, the bne thing withoutt which no building can be a church: 71 JOHN MATTHEWS the sactuary lamp is not just an adornment but a sign to the faithful that Jesus is at home, waiting for their visit. In the Catholic church the person who has not faitl-J is a stranger and sight-seer, the man of faith is at home with Jesus in His Father's house. So vast is the difference between the person without faith and the man whose actions are wholly penetrated by tiis Catholic faith! Let us sum up now the work of faith in the divine life of our soul. The virtue of faith gives us a new mind, enlightened with the new truths of Our Lord's Testament. A grown-up receiving the virtue of faith, may seem the same after his conversion as before-- ¯ but he is not. He has new thoughts; he knows God's new com-mands; all events in his life take on a divine meaning for eternity: his belief gives a heavenly purpose to his actions: he will soon show by his outward deeds of virtue the inward change within his mind. "For with the heart we believe unto justice: but with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (Rum. 10:10). Moreover, to live the life of grace we must 1ire a life of faith. This virtue must influence' a11 our actions. Hence our every deed must be an act "of faith, must bear witness that we choose~ to be amongst God's faithful, must be a profession of our belief. Our religion, which is our .faith, must underlie all the circumstances of our lives and give them a Catholic tone and value. That is the work ¯ of faith. Thus by living a life of faith we actively live our grace-life. "The just man liveth by faith" (Rum. 1:17). Indeed, our faith and our divine life grow step by step together. For every holy deed we do God gives us this reward: our grace-life grows fuller and at the same time our virtue of faith is so deepened and enriched that it becomes stronger against temptation, that we are more Christ-minded, that we can make greater acts of faith. In this manner faith plays its important part in the growth of our divine life. OUR CONTRIBUTORS JOSEPH F. GALLEN and JOHN MATTHEW8 are members of the faculty at Woodstock College, Woodstock, Maryland. DOMINIC HUGHES is a member of the Pontifical Faculty of Theology, Dominican House of Studies, Washington, D. C. 72 On Controversy WE HAVE RECEIVED certain c,r, iticisms for publishing "Thd Three Ages o~f the Interior Life, by G.'Augustine Ellard, S.3". (Cf. REVIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, VIII, 297-317.) One criti-cism is that the "theological erudition" of Father Ellard's article "takes advantage of readers who lack the technical preparation neces- Sary to measure its true weight." (Cf. IX, 42~-43.) Another criti-cism, not sent for publication, is that Father Ellard's article contains controversial matter, and that a magazine like ours should keep clear of controversy. It seems advisable to explain our position. Father Ellard's article was a book review; and the work he reviewed (The Three Ages of the Interior Life, by Father R. Garri-gou- Lagrange, OIP.) is decidedly theological. It is difficult to see how a v~ork of this kind could be reviewed without using theological erudition. Moreover, The Three Ages is intended, as least partly, for just such people as our readers; hence it seems that the theological erudition used in reviewing the work would no more take advantage of readers than would the work itself. It might be added here that one of the precise purposes for founding this REVIEW was tO present sound theology without the technical accompaniments that are usu-ally found in a strictly theological journal. As for controversy, we have always tried assiduously to avoid controversial topics or at least to avoid taking sides in any theologi-cal debate. Less than a year ago, when we published "Mystical Life--Mystical Prayer," by M. Raymond, O.C.S.O., we were care-ful to prefix to the article an editorial note indicating that Father Raymond's view was only one of three legitimately defended opin-ions on the normal development of the spiritual life. We expressed no preference for any of the opinions. (Cf. VIII, 121,) No one objected to our calling attention to the controversial nature of Father Raymond's article. Why, therefore, should anyone object to Father Ellard's pointing out that certain basic questions in The Three Ages are subjects of legitimate controversy? It would be naive to imply that, in publishing Father Ellard's .article, we did not expect contrary reactions. Since the author of The Three Ages has many admirers, it was quite likely that some of 73 ON CONTROVERSY Review for Religious them would come to his defense. It is clear, then, that in publishing the book review, we had to run the risk of controversy. The only ways oi~ avoiding it would be to refuse to review the work, or to publish an insincere review, or to print a sincere review without allowing a rebuttal. None of these procedures was or is desirable. Hence, we have some controversy, and perhaps it may continue for a time. We trust that our readers will find it both interesting and profitable. In this issue we present an article by Father Dominic Hughes, O.P., in rebuttal to Father Ellard, together with a brief reply by Father Ellard and a communication defending his position. Other'expres-sions of opinion on either side will be accepted. However, lest this subject .matter consume disproportionate space in the REVIEW, it seems necessary to limit further contributions to communications. Conditions for acceptance of these communications will be found on page 96. Now a word about Father Hughes's article. In some aspects it differs from our usual editorial policy; yet it seemed better, under the circumstances, to waive insistence on policy. What he says, however, about doctrinal authority in the Church, especially the authority of Doctors of the Church in general and of St. Thomas Aquinas in particular, calls for special editorial comment. For the most part this comment will simply agree with him and emphasize the truth of what he says; in one point it will at least qualify one of his views if not express a complete difference of opinion. Father Hughes rightly observes that the highest doctrinal author-ity in this world is the teaching Church. And this truth needs emphasizing in our times, even in the case of many devout laymen. This teaching Church is composed of the Pope himself, and of the bishops of the world united with tbe Pope, whether in a general council or ~in their respective dioceses. Theologians graphically and reverently style the~e successors to the Apostles theVioum Magisterium (the living teaching body) or simply the Ecclesia Docens (the teaching Church). It is a wonderful thing, this living teaching Church; it pos-sesses not only the great truths of revelation with which Christ and the Holy Spirit endowed the Apostles but also all the wisdom of the succeeding centuries which has been used in the exploration and explanation of the original endowment (the Deposit of Faith,. as it is. called), The Doctors and other theologians have authority only in so far as they express either the doctrine of this living .Church or 74 March, 1950 ON CONTROVERSY speculations which are in conformity with that doctrine. The revelation confided to the Church is a limitless treasure; and our knowledge of the doctrine and its implications is subject to con-stant growth. In this process 9f growth through the centuries there have always been questions that were not clear, that needed further exploration and illumination. Consequently, there have been and are divergent opinions, with abIe scholars defending contrasting views, without remonstrance and even with encouragement from the Church. The interesting question thus arises: how is the theologian of today to align himself in such controversies? Thd first duty of the true theologian is to judge the reasons of the respective sides in the light of already established principles and doctrines. Finding the reasons lacking sufficient cogency to win his preference, he might then inspect the authorities holding the different views. Suppose that in a debated question such as I have just outlined, a Doctor of the Church would be the principal defendant of one opinion. Should he, by the very fact that-he is a Doctor, win the theologian's intellectual preference? I get the impression from Father Hughes's article that he would answer this question in the affirma-tive. If this impression is correct, there is room here for a difference of opinion. The title of Doctor of the Church includes an official declaration of eminence in theological learning, but not necessarily pre-eminence over all uncanonized scholars. The eminence of some of these uncanonized theologians is attested by the constant use of their works in theological schools and even by the great, confidence placed in them by the Church while they were still living. Father Hughes suggests that in the canonized Doctor there is the added con-sideration of supernatural wisdom. But this wisdom is not limited to the canonized; it accompanies grace and virtue, not canonization. And history attests that many of the uncanonized scholars were men of lofty virtue. For example, speaking for Benedict-XV, Cardinal Gasparri styled Scotus a "most holy man,"; and speaking for himself Leo XIII referred to eminent Jesuit scholars (none of whom .were then Doctors of the Church) as men of "extraordinary virtue." So much for the authority of Doctors of the Church in general. As for St. Thomas Aquinas in particular, it is unquestionable that the Church's esteem for him is unique. Canon 1366, § 2, directs that professors of philosophy and theology should treat these subjects after the method, doctrine, and principles of the Angelic Doctor, and ¯ should hold these as sacred. An examination of the many documents 75 ON CONTROVERSY Review for Reliflious referred to in the sources of this' canon shows that it is but a capsule formulation of the insistent injunctions and directives of Leo XIII, Plus X, and Benedict XV. These Popes considered him not merely as an individual but also as the representative of all the great Scho-lastics of his time because in his works the best of their teaching is most perfectly embodied. Six years after the promulgation of the Code of Canon Law, Plus XI reaffirmed the praise and injunctions of his predecessors in an encyclical letter (Studiorum Ducem, June 29, 1923) which is rightly called a papal commentary on canon 1366, § 2. Finally; just a few months after he became Supreme Pontiff, Plus XII, in an address to clerical students in Rome, .recalled and approved all these directives (June 24, 1939). Obviously, therefore, the Church wants professors and students of philosophy and theology to follow St. Thomas. Ye~ it is not to be a slavish following which, in the words of Benedict XV, "would clip the wings of genius with consequent injury to the deeper study of theology," (Spoken in an audience granted to the Jesuit General and his Assistants, Feb. 17, 19.15.) 'This is not the place to try to indicate precisely the legitimate limitations to the following of St. Thomas; but it may be well to show, through the words of the Popes themselves, that the~e are some limits. Speaking of the "wisdom of Aquinas," Leo XIII insisted that he did not wish to propose to our age for imitation "anything which does not duly agree with the proved findings of a later age;" or any-thing "which does not hax~e its measure of probability." (Cf. the encyclical Aeterni Patrfs, in Fontes Codicis, III, p. 149.) Benedict XV declared in a letter to the Jesuit General (Mar. 19, 1917) that the Roman Pontiffs "have invariably held that St. Thomas must be regarded as the guide and master in the study of theology and phi-losophy,, although everyone retains full freedom to argue for either side of those questions which can be and are wont to be disputed." Pius XI, having enjoined the strict observance of canon 1366, § 2, added: "But let no one require of others more than is required of all by the Church herself who is the teacher and mother of all; for in those matters in which there is division of opinion among the best authors in Catholic schools, no one is forbidden to follow that opinion which seems to him to be nearer to the truth." (AAS, XV, 324.) Finally, in the address previously referred to, Pius XII said: "At the same time we make Our own the warnings of these same Predecessors, whereby they sought to protect genuine progress in sci- 76 ON CONTROVERSY ence and lawful liberty of research. We thoroughly approve and recommend that the ancient wisdom be brought into accord, if need be, with the new discoveries of scholarship; that there be free discus-sion of points on which reputable students of the Angelic Doctor commonly argue; that fresh resources be drawn from history for the better understanding of the text of St.Thomas." (AAS, XXX; 246-47.) Some people, hazily cognizant of historical disagreements on certain profound questions, seem to think that Dominicans and Jesuits are always on opposite sides of a theological debate and that Jesuits are not followers of St. Thomas. The impression is false. And it may be informative to add here that St. Ignatius enjoined the study of the "Scholastic doctrine of St. Thomas," and that this rather general prescription of our constitutions was made very definite by our Fifth General Congregation (1594), which legislated that Jesuits must consider St. Thomas as their own special doctor. The words of Leo XIII are witness to the fidelity of Jesuits in carrying out this command. Speaking of eminent Jesuit theologians, the Pope said that "being as they were, men of extraordinary virtue and talent, and applying themselves assiduously to the works of the Angelic Doctor, with certain arguments they expounded his tenets in a manner full and excellent,, they adorned his doctrine with the rich trappings of erudition, they made many keen and practical deduc-tions therefrom for the refutation of new errors, adding besides what-ever declarations or more exact decrees had since that time been made by the Church in this same field. The fruits of their industry no one in truth can spurn without loss to himself." (Apostolic Letter Gravissirne Nos to the Jesuit General, 1892.) --GERALD KELLY, S.J. SEARCHLIGHTING OURSELVES Many shrewd observations for retreats and tridua are found in Searchlighting Ourselues, the Retreat Notes of Father Timothy Brosnahan, S.J., edited by Francis P. LeBuffe, S.J. The book contains notes on the various meditations of The Spir-itual Exercises, several conferences on basic points of the spiritual life, and a number of special meditations, notably a series on the Beatitudes, for use during tridua. Jesuit Seminary and Mission Bureau, 51 East 83rd St., New York 28, N.Y. 77 Works of Made/v anit:es!: Dominic Hughes, O.P. CHARITY and solicitude for souls moved .Father Ellard (RE-VIEW FOR RELIGIOUS, November, 1949) to lay several stric-tures upon Father Garrigou-Lagrange's Three A~es of the Interior Life. That same charity now prompts a staying hand. Petulance or truculence cannot rise to defend either side in chari-table controversy. Neither party can reprove the sincere expression of an opinion any more than either can approve indefiniteness in doc-trine or ineptness in expression. Rather both must call upon charity's constant companion, wisdom, whose "abode is in the full assembly of the saints" (Ecclesiasticus 24: 16). However unqualified writers or readers may be in matters secu-larly or sacredly scientific, their judgment from wisdom will partake of that calm and certitude of those aware that "If anyone desires to do His will, he will know of the teaching whether it is from God" (,John 7:17). Even in these controversies about subsidiary doc-trines and their suitable expression something of the clarity and security of a truly wise appraisal is attainable, "for the spiritual man judges all" (I Corinthians 2 : 15). The judgment of the spiritual man is based on neither caprice nor allegiance, but solely upon wisdom. "It pertains to wisdom," --St. Thomas, the Common Doctor, expressed the common doc-trine--" to consider the highest causes through which it may judge of other things with the greatest certitude and according to which it should order other things" (Summa Tbeolo~qica, II-Ilae. q.45, a.1). Wisdom, then, has one main product and two by-products. The primary product of any habit of wisdom is a "consideration of the highest causes." In the different orders of reality and knowl-edge, various highest causes attract the attention of divers kinds of wise men. In any case, however, the object of wisdom's considera-tion is the ultimate, in words as in works. In works the absolute ultimate in no way ordered to anything further, and the measure of all, are the works of God made manifest in the works of Christ. Relatively ultimate, first and last in a particular line, and the measure of that group, are the works, for example, of a founder of a religious society, so that St. Ignatius would be the measure of the accomplish-ments as Jesuits of his followers, even of the glorious achievements 78 March, 1950 WORKS OF GOD MADE MANIFEST of St. Francis Xavier and St. Robert Bellarmine. In words, the absolute and unassailable ultimate is the voice of the Church and Sacred Scripture. Relative ultimates, too, are found in various writings: .those of St. Thomas for the whole of theology, those of St. Alphonsus Liguori for practice in moral problems, and those of St. 3ohn of the Cross inmatters mystical. Upon the basis of this "consideration of highest causes" wisdom has as one of its by-pr0ducts a judgment of things other than the highest cause itself "with the greatest certitude." The maximum of security in judgment is not invariable, but will change according as the highest cause is either absolutely or only relatively ultimate. In matters in which the Voice of God has not yet been heard---or may never be--the certitude attainable cannot be as unqualified as when the Church has spoken. Yet various other causes may be given a limited but appreciable certitude as they more or less cogently elimi-nate any worthy fear of contradiction. Moreover, some considera-tions within the scope of wisdom's judgment, metaphysics for example, need admit of no exceptions. Moral judgments, of which the mystical is a phase, however, can attain a certitude about human actions only "as they most often happen." "For it is the mark of the educated man to look for certitude in each class of things just so far as the nature of the subject admits" (Aristotle, I Ethics, c. 3). In this spirit, St. Augustine, who was well aware that no case was finished until Rome had spoken, expressed a wise certitude: "I do not wish my reader to be bound down to me, so I do not wish my corrector to be bound down to himself. Let not the former love me more than the Catholic faith, let not the latter love himself more than the Catholic verity . Do not be willing to amend my writings by thine own opinion or disputation, but from the divine text or by unanswerable reasons." (On the Trinity, Bk. III, Preface.) The mere possibility of an unwarranted contradiction because his every word was not inspired or even uncontested--was not enough to unsettle the mind of St. Augustine, even about what he himself had written. Certainly others reading his words so often approved by the Church can reach the "greatest certitude." Like-wise, concerning a wide variety of matters, even without a decision of the Church or a consensus of theologians, certitude can be had upon the basis of either the arguments proposed or auth6rities cited. The citing of authorities is not a matter of number but of weight. The weight of one Doctor of the Church can overbalance toward 79 DOMINIC HUGHES Review [or Religious certitude any dispute, despite the contradictions of a multitude of theological scribes. Weighing such authority is the second by-product of wisdom. From a catalog of opinions or an enumeration of members of various schools a deep appreciation of human limita-tions may be derived, but scarcely a wise judgment. Wisdom, in addition to considering the highest causes and judging other things with the greatest certitude, orders other things .acgording to the highest cause, either in any particular grouping or according to the absolute ultimate itself. It does not gather a crowd but establishes a hierarchy. Not how many authors may be found who differ from one another, but how they are arranged relative to the primary master of the subject, e.g., ~lohn of the Cross~such is the judgment of wisdom. This wise ordering of authors, moreover, avoids two extremes. Spiritual atavism is inclined to bow so low and so often before the ancestral authority of a father, either of the Church or even of a particular spiritual family, that little opportunity is afforded for examining or explaining doctrinal implications or making practical applications. The other extreme to be shunned, more a tendency than a tenet, is a mollified "modernism." Those affected by it are disposed to judge the latest as the best, the more contemporary as the, more commendable. The foundation for avoiding both extremes, too much of the past, too much of the.present, and of formulating a truly wise judgment is an ordering, not according to.personal prefer-ences but according to principles. The principles of wise judgment are not personal but the peren-nial preferences and special approbation of the Church. When the Popes have praised and so often used particular authorities, e.g., St. Augustine or St. Thomas, as the highest, though not the exclusive causes for engendering certitude in the judgments of the faithful, there is little fear of worthy contradiction in following their example. In that case, other theological or spiritual writers, as they more or less approach and approximate the doctrines of these highest causes of the greatest possible certitude will take their place in the estimate and esteem of wisdom. The impressiveneses of such considerations as numbers, either of authors or copies of their works sold, avail-ability in English, or other such shavings of certitude is, for wisdom, negligible compared to the arguments or authority of but a single Doctor of the Church. These teachers of the "mind of Christ" offer principles at once profound and practical. The highest in heaven always seem the most down-to-earth. None realized more than they how each soul 80 March, 1950 WORKS OF GOD MADE MANIFEST must budget its talents, using a few well-coined principles through- Out its spiritual life to make both ends meet---in God. Prodigality in principles and in words, they were sure, would contribute to neither practicality nor profundity. With but little, and all of that Christ's, they sought and saw the deep things of God and the deep things of each soul on its way towards Him. The profundity and practicality of other spiritual writers can be wisely appraised only as it more or less approaches what is found in the Doctors both in their wisdom by infusion and their Wisdom by 'industry. Together in a single act these fountainheads of truth converged to give the saintly doctors their certitude. In others--so often what is united in superiors is divided in inferiors--an actual judgment is the result of either one or tlSe other, either of wisdom by infusion or of wisdom by industry. Wisdom by infusion, the science of the saints, as a Gift of the Holy Ghost judgeswith certainty and orderliness, not through metaphysical discourse, but by a loving accord with its object--"by tasting and seeing that the Lord is sweet." Wisdom by industry, the science of theology, on the other hand, secure though it is in the principles of faith, suffers the labors and infirmities of all human effort. Yet,. at times, wisdom by infusion must appeal to wisdom by industry to corroborate its expressions and to co-ordinate its findings; the mystics and spiritual writers must submit divine truth to the scribes in theology for a test in human terms. Wisdom's test, in human terms, concerning the charitable contro-versy over the divergent views of Father Garrigou-La~range and Father Ellard involves two major considerations: doctrine and method. The points of doctrinal divergence most worthy of mention con-cern the Gifts of the Holy Ghost: contemplation: its place and kinds; and the unity of the interior life. The methodological differences arise either positively from the stress or emphasis of one doctrine more than another, or negatively through the omission of detail by some considered as integral to any spiritual treatise. WISDOM IN WORDS: DOCTRINE The points controverted concerning the Gifts of the Holy Ghost are their necessity, nature, function, and number. " Concerning each of these points separately, and cumulatively, too, Father Ellard brings forth his hobgoblin--uncertainty. Upo'n how little might be said with certainty there can be found only the sole small voice of scholarly research, Father DeBlic, who 81 DOMINIC HUGHES Review [or R'eligious minimizes w.hat even Father De Guibert, S.J., thought .an irredu-cible denominator. Many Dominican theologians, are cited as recog-nizing a.controversy upon the matter, but the conclusions of each do not seem worthy of mention by Father Ellard. If thi~. process were pushed to its principle, it would imply that as soon as a point is questioned it immediately becomes questionable, and as soon as doubted, doubtful. Such can. scarcely be a moving principle to wis-dom which has ordered authorities according .to the highest among them and thus attained the "greatest certitude." To corroborate the general judgment of wisdom, however, each subordinate point which has come under scrutiny may well be examined. The necessity of the Gifts, as explained by St. Thomas, seems to have suffered the least from the minimizing tendencies of later and lesser theologians. None of the mystics, moreover, have found them a luxury. They are vital to the life of divine grace; "the just man," Leo XIII testified in his Encyclical Dioinum illud munus (May 9, 1897), "has need of these seven gifts." Because of the overwhelming testimony in tradition to the intimate association of the state of grace and presence of the Gifts, even the doughtiest opponent of Thomistic doctrine on the Gifts must treat the denial of this point as negligible. The nature of the Gifts, however, is quite another matter. "They make us docile to the Holy Ghost," according to a formula suffi-ciently broad to embrace all'variants, but not to preclude precisions. While all would agree that docility to the Holy Ghost is of the essence of the Gifts, as Father Ellard triumphantly pointed out to drive in the wedge of uncertainty, "not all" would ,concur with St. Thomas in finding them distinct habits in the soul. The words of Sacred Scripture itself give warrant for St. Thomas's doctrine, inasmuch as they imply a unique divine influx. This,doctrine of St. Thomas cannot lightly be set aside. His reason cannot be dis-proved, his authority no one can gainsay. Although obviously not of Faith, his doctrine has an approbation by the Church incompar-ably above any i~f those proposed by Father Ellard as competitors for our certain allegiance. Ordinary permission to teach or publish thisis only a faint resemblance to the abundant approval given to Doctors of the Church. In them, because of their sanctity and the special scrutiny of their works, the Church recognizes unique wit-nesses and guardians of her patrimony, the doctrine of Christ. Over and above the acclamations usually given to a Doctor, St. Thomas has received frequent and unique marks of esteem from the Church. Pope Pius V referred to him as "the most certain rule of Christian 82 March, 1950 X~rORKS OF GOD MADE MANIFEST doctrine," and Pope Clement VIII was sure that he could be "fol-lowed without any danger of error." These" and many other state-ments by successive Popes are not private hyperbole but public declarations, normative if not mandatory in Faith. Against this weight of certitude from St. Thomas, Father Ellard proposes (p. 305) a theologian described, in a citation from clerical students, as the."Subtle Doctor." Of the su.btlet~r of'Scotus there is no doubt; but of the tebm "Doctor" as applied to him there is con-siderable reason for hesitance. No more of a' Doctor of the Church than so many others who have taught in her schools throughout the centuries, Scotus has neithe~ the approval of his sanctity nor of his doctrine that is required of a Doctor. His opinion is, therefore, of an entirely other brder in certitude from that of St. Thomas. It is on a plane "with that of Suarez, who could not concur with St. Thomas in the matter of grace but could affirm against Scotus that he appreciated the importance of distinguishing between the virtues and the Gifts. The allegiance, moreover, of St. Francis de Sales to the doctrine of Scotus cannot be alleged'with certitude. The Gifts are, in the words cited by Father Ellard' (p. 306), "the virtues, properties and qualities of charity." (Cf. The Looe or: God, XI, 15.) "Speaking precisely," as St. Francis assured us he was doing, all these entities are distinct from the essence, although perhaps inseparable from it. In like manner, although the Gifts and charity are always together, they do not merge into one habit, otherwise the same might be said of St. Francis de Sales' doctrine of the relation of charity and the other infused virtues. Charity would not then be the "gift of gifts" (XI, 19), but the one gift, n6t the essence or bond of perfection, but the whole of the spiritual organism. There is nothing suffi-ciently explicit in the words of St. Francis de Sales to indicate an approval of the Scotistic opinion or the disapproval of the doctrine of St. Thomas. Even if a rivalry were established between these two Doctors of the Church, inasmuch as the matter is one of theological principles, the preponderance of authority would easily go to St. Thomas. To St. Thomas, then, and not to Father Garrigou-Lagrange, wisdom looks for its "highest cause" according to which it might order other opinions and thus attain the "greatest certitude" possible concerning the nature" of the Gifts. Obviously, Pohle-Preuss, Forget; Van der Meersch, and legions of other writers who subscribe to what is least as what is safest, are far from disturbing the certitude of 'a 83 DOMINIC HUGHES Reoiew for Religious soul in which wisdom dwells. The judgment of wisdom appre-ciates the authority and approves the arguments, the sublimity and certainty, of the doctrine on the Gifts proposed without equivoca-tion by St. Thomas. Allegedly based upon St. Thomas and employing his authority is the more recent confection of two different modes of the Gifts in life. The gesture with which Father Ellard includes Cardinal Billot among Thomists is so expansive that it would embrace all who, for one point or another, approximate the teaching of the Angelic Doc-tor, whose method, doctrine, and principles are to be held by all teachers as sacred according to the mandate of the Church (Code of Canon Law, canon 1366, § 2). Moreover, the contemporary pro-ponent of the theory qf two modes of the Gifts in this life, one ordi-nary, the other extraordinary, was immediately and unhesitatingly denounced as having mistaken and misquoted St. Thomas by Fathers R. Dalbiez (l~tudes Carm$litaines, April 1933, pp. 250ff.) and P. P~rinelle (Revue des sciences philosophiques et theologiques, No~ember 1932, p. 692), as well as by Father Garrigou-Lagrange (La Vie spirituelle, November 1932, suppl, pp. [ 77 ] if). Such total misinterpretation of St. Thomas cannot be a "form of modern Thomistic theory on the Gifts," as Father Ellard would have it (p. 310), but rather a warning against making St. Thomas a wit-ness to any elaboration prejudicial to his principles. Certain, partly because it is "seamless," Thomistic doctrine preserves its purity and integrity by faithful adherence to the "method, doctrine, and prin-ciples" in the text of St.' Thomas, particularly in the question of the nature of the Gifts. The number of the Gifts is likewise clearly and authoritatively determined in the text of St. Thomas. As always, he is in full accord with the texts of Sacred Scripture which the Church and the best exegetes c~ansider most reliable, as well as the sense of the Church in the hymn Veni, Sancte Spiritus, and the Catechism of the Coun-cil of Trent. St. Augustine is of the same mind (cf. On Christian Doctrine, II, 7), and St. Francis de Sales refers to the "seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost" (The Love of God, XI, 19) in a text otherwise considered probative by Father Ellard (p. 306). To introduce and perhaps induce a doubt in the traditional enumerhtion as taxative or "limitative," Father Ellard cites (p. 309) an author who would amplify the number as by "an infinite variety of shades." This plethora, seven is a "plenitude," the same author affirms is the intention of the sacred authors, "as we know." How we are to know, 84 March, 1950 WORKS OF GOD MADE MANIFEST however, is not indicated. Either a private revelation or some extremely adroit exegesis would be necessary to belie the authority of Doctors of the Church, who, so close to the primary author of Sacred Scripture--the Holy Ghost--have considered the Gifts as numeri-cally determined. Determination by the Doctors on one point may leave still another undetermined with exactly the same cogency and certitude. St. Thomas himself, having given, on the authority of another, a general schema of the functions of the various gifts, found it neces-sary to reconsider one of its aspects. "Who will assure us that the . last is perfect?" Father EIIard quotes (p. 309) a scholar who has studied the point. Who, on the other hand, will be temerarious enough to.insist that the last is imperfect or.less perfec~ than any other proposed? A distinction and argument which, after long thought, had clarity and cogency for St. Thomas has the added note of authority for those who wisely appraise both the change and the conclusion. In making his schema, St. Thomas realized he was establishing an appropriate parallel, an educative device, an argu-. ment of convenience. Neither he nor St. Augustine--nor Father Garrigou-Lagrange--attributes the same probative force to a schema as to a syllogism. Indeed, The Three Ages evidences an admirable conformity to the doctrine of St. Thomas, and his classical commen-tator, John of St. Thomas, in the substance and schema for the functioning of the various Gifts. The final point concerning what Father Ellard chooses rather ungraciously to call "the present-day Thomistic hypothesis" of the Gifts is their association with the doctrine that some graces are intrinsically efficacious. A larger issue is involved here than the .mat-ter of the Gifts and it should not be treated by innuendo. If at this juncture "many people pause," as Father Ellard expects (p. 310), because the common pre-Reformation doctrine on the efficacy of grace and the nature of the Gifts are "indissolubly bound" in doctrinal integrity, will it be to neglect an assured and consistent teaching for one that is hopelessly entangled in affirmations, denials, and com-promises? Those who demur at the doctrine of grace as expounded by St. Thomas cannot fail to deny his teaching on the Gifts. Only a compromise could enable Suarez to affirm the doctrine of St. Thomas on the nature of the Gifts and deny his doctrine on grace. Such compromises are always uncertain, as the doctrinally internecine con-flict among Molinists and Congruists amply testifies. Somewhat as a summary of his consideration of the .Gifts, 85 DOMINIC HUGHES Review [or Religious Father. Ellard implies (p. 311) that because leading Thomists are aware of controversies they themselves are subject to uncertainty. Nothing could be further from the truth, unless that Catholics by their cognizance of heresy diminish their faith. Moreover, because the teaching of The Three Ages is based upon what "the great majority of theologians hold with St.Thomas," a wise judgment would con-cede Father Ellard but poor pleasure in having ferreted out an admission that "'not all [italics his] theologians agree on this par-ticular fundamental point." Upon such minimal evidence and defensive techniques only an artificial uncertainty and imprudent reservation or suspension of judgment can be built. Father Ellard-emphasizes complexity ;ind confusion, Father Garrigou-Lagfange the "certitude of the great directive principles that illuminate all spirituality (cf. p. 311)." In the matter of the Gifts, their neces-sity, nature, number, and fufiction, .not St. Thomas' and Father Garrigou-Lagrange's unassailable doctrine, but Father Ellard's unre-solved doubts lead to "'disillusionment and discouragement" which all are so solicitous to avoid. Another complex question in need of "great directive principles" is that of contemplation. Concerning the exposition of contempla-tion in The Three Ages, Father Ellard seems to find two points of difficulty: the presence of acquired contemplation; the place of the infused. With regard to acquired contemplation, Father Ellard finds reason for criticism in the fact that Father Garrigou-.Lagrange gives it "hardly any place" in his s'ynthesis of the entire interior life,, while the Carmelite Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen devoted "half his work, St. dohn of the Cross" to justifying its place in Carmelite theology. The same Carmelite, however, gives as his wise and orderly conclusion (pp. 199-200) that "the central thesis of the Thomistic spiritual synthesis is supported by the doctrine of actlx;e contemplation." Even if Father Ellard, in the Three Ages, would replace "hardly" with "half" to suit his preferences, the wise ordering of part to whole in both Carmelite and Dominican is obvious. Moreover, "St. Theresa never speaks of any other than infused contemplation.,"~ Father Gabriel states categorically (p. 111), while he and others can find only equivalents of the term in St. John of the Cross. Both the problem of terminology and the point of doc-trine concerning the "beginning of contemplation" (Dark Night, I, 9) and the "acquired prayer of recollection" receive ample and appropriate treatment in the chapter on "Contemplative Prayer" in The Three Ages. More would.make a part into a polemic. 86 March, 1950 WORKS OF GOD MADE MANIFEST If others disagree with Father Garrigou-Lagrange in this matter it should not be surprising. The harmony he has indicated between St. Thomas and St. John of the Cross is well-founded in the best Carmelite and Dominican authorities. If a dissident attitude arises from the outside and even seeps within, the foundations, of accord in the Theresian and Thomistic teachings are not tragically undermined. Without mentioning either the Common or the Mystical Doctor, Father Ellard has assembled a variety of authorities (p. 303) to indicate a confusion on the place of infused contemplation. The teachings of Msgr. Saudreau, Tanquerey, Crisogono, and Naval-- all but the last two differing from one another--are arrayed against that of The Three Ages. No mention is made, however, of which of all in the field more closely conforms to the doctrine of the Doctor of Contemplation, St. John of the Cross. Tanquerey, Crisogono, and Naval are not even close. Msgr. Saudreau confines contempla-tion to the unitive way. With "a great difference indeed" (p. 303) Father Garrigou-Lagrange conforms exactly to the doctrine of St. John by placing infused contemplation in both the unitive way and--to use St. John's own words--"the way of proficients, which is also called the illuminative way, or the way of infused contempla-tion" (Dark Night, I, 14). This explicit testimony of the "highest cause" in matters of contemplation and Father Garrigou-Lagrange's strict conformity to it, leaves but one judgment ~or wisdom-- "greatest certitude" for the doctrine on the place of infused con-templa. tion in The Three Ages. Moreover, when it is a question of the relationship between the Gifts and contemplation, Father Ellard's strictures are utterly con-fused. His use as an argument from omission of inappropriate texts from St. Francis de Sales and St. Alphonsus "who would have advocated for all a form of mental prayer that is full of inspirations from the Holy Spirit" is pitiably feeble. Fantastic, nothing less, is his assertion that "although in their process nothing has been said about infused contemplation," persons have been canonized, and hence "we can safely conclude" from no mention, let alone non-manifestation, to the non-existence of interior intellectual movements of the Holy Ghost in their souls. Father Garrigou-Lagrange clearly indicates (I, 81) saints and situations in which the activity of the intellectual Gifts are "diffuse." In them the practical Gifts of coun-sel, fortitude, or fear are more apparent, yet all the gifts will be "highly developed" and wisdom will [egulate all. Since the highest of mystical experiences is within the scope of a moral consideration, 87 DOMINIC HUGHES Ret~ieto for Religious judgments must be wisely formed" of them "as they most often hap-pen." Exceptions corroborate, not corrupt, certitude in morals, "for the man educated to expect them." Neither the fact that "various exceptions" are admitted to the doctrine of the predominance of infused contemplation, nor its "being so closely associated with a questionable theory of the gifts (p. 312)" is ground for asserting that the Theresian-Thomistic position in the Three Ages "suffers" a loss of certitude. Only those who are con-stantly looking for some "phenomenon in consciousness" which is "humanly noticeable" (p. 31'~) complain of dangers of disillusion-ment because the truth of mystical experience did not fit into their preconceived patterns. From the doctrines on the Gifts and contemplation flows the final point of difficulty: the normality of infused contemplation or the unity of the interior life. To Father Ellard's wonderment, The Three Ages "embodies no great new discovery nor corrects any old error" (p. 311). His observation is remarkably exact. The discovery is old, the error is new. Until the seventeenth century no one lost sight of the unity of the interior life and no arbitrary and artificial cleavage between ascetical and mystical theology was introduced. With the publica-tion of Scaramelli's Ascetical Directory an.d Mystical Director~l, how-ever the division and its tragic consequences were popularized. Since things ascetical were conceived as ordinary and the mystical, i.e., infused contemplation, as extraordinary, humility became the motive for the humdrum, and many souls apt for contemplation were forced to excruciating torments on the treadmill of discursive meditation. This new error bade fair to destroy an old discovery. To Father Garrigou-Lagtange is due sincere tribute as one of the vanguard leading souls to an appreciation of the traditional teaching on the unity of the interior life, its contemplative graces and gifts. Those only need fear disillusionment or discouragement in his leadership whose limited ideals or faint heart stultify their wisdom. WISDOM AT WORK: METHOD Wisdom governs not only the principles of the interior life but their presentation. In The Three Ages, Father EIlatd finds its doc-trinal stress and seeming omissions particularly distressing. Father Garrigou-Lagrange's stress upon the Gifts of the Holy Ghost is indeed a strain for Father Ellard. For him, "The whole vast construction presented in these two large volumes stands or fails with the special doctrine on the Gifts of the Holy Spirit which 88 March, 1950 WORKS OF GOD MADE MANIFEST forms as it were the supporting framework for it" (p. 305). Yet Father Ellard himself declared (p. 297) that "degrees of virtues, the functions of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost, various purifications, arid the grades of prayer are assigned to each of the three ages." Perhaps the mere presence of the Gifts gives them too much prominence for Father Ellard. On~ of his authorities (p. 313), and a confrere, Father Poulain, apparently not a theologian, however proficient a psychologist, in his extensive work, The Graces of Interior Prayer, somehow manages to avoid any treatment of the Gifts. To anyone acquainted with their importance in traditional spiritual writers, the exposition of The Three Ages will seem the mere summary it was intended to be (I, 66). On the other hand, the omissi~)ns Father Ellard finds so lamen-table are more nominal than real. If the part;.cular examination deals with the predominant fault, a chapter on that subject should satisfy Father Ellard's justification of it as "one of the major tech-nique. s in modern Catholic asceticism." When "for the general examination no precise method is suggested," it need not be a strange omission.Once the "Sins to be Avoided" are mentioned, as Father Garrigou-Lagrange does in a chapter by that name (I, 299), the remainder is left to the individual conscience', even in the Spiritual Exercises, since of its five acts in this matter two are a preface, two an epilogue of prayers. Again in the case of mental prayer, concrete details appeal to Father Ellard as the source of certitude. As a mat-ter of fact, the opposite is true. The more particularized is the treat-ment, the more it is subject to doubt. The devious details of these devices for praying, whose security for some is largely in their famili-arity, are better consciously omitted by anyone who writes with the "certitude of the great directive principles of all spirituality" (cf. p. 311). The method of The Three Ages, moreover, cannot rather "stress theory than practice" (p. 302) if its principal excellence is "its inspiratio:lal value," and if "a reader feels his heart warmed and his enthusiasm enkindled" (p. 301). It can scarcely be labeled as more given to "metaphysics than psychology" (p. 302) when the author keeps reminding his readers of the grand dogmas of Christianity, their "infinite elevation," their implications for our "affective and practical lives" (p. 301). WORDS AT WORK FOR THE WISE For the wise, who are so either by industry in theology or by 89 DOMINIC HUGHES infusion .with God's love, a word of conclusion is sufficient. A wise word may not have rhetorical flair, but it cannot be faltering or fal-lacious. As an expression of the judgment of the "highest causes" with the "greatest certitude" and other things in an orderly manner, it is not an assembly of facts, but an appraisal of values. The relative values of both content and method between what Father Garrigou-Lagrange and Father Ellard offer for its appraisal leave wisdom no doubt whatever. In points of doctrine Father Ellard seems to be without the solid foundation of a man whos~ theological industry has made him wise. Despite his erudition-- sometimes amid the most trivial sources-~-his analysis lacks pro-fundity. Its practicality, too, since it fails in its calculated effect, is open to question. In the face" of an artificially imposed order, Father Ellard's thoughts ramble and lose themselves in details. When his conclusions are declarative, they waver over a "whatever" (p. 314) or a "whether or not" (p. 316), and when they are an interrogative they are most uncertain. His precision in labelling the doctrines of others he suddenly loses when he lets "Catholic" and "Church" slip into sentences containing ideas he favors (p. 302). All of this gives his article the appearance of a somewhat gauche polemic rather than of a sincere and solicitous appraisal. On the other hand, the mag-nificent proportions of The Three Ages are not often met with in contemporary spiritual writing. Because it presents so well the "great dogmas of Christianity" as well as "their implications for our affective and practical lives," each reader feels his "heart warmed and his enthusiasm enkindled for these great truths" (p. 301). Wisdom's final word concerning the providential purpose of this and other discordant notes in the harmony of the teachings in the Church on the interior life is after the Model of Wisdom Him-self. When the Apostles saw the man born blind, they balanced-- unknowingl~, perhaps--one rabbinical opinion against another: "this man or his parents?" They were forced to suspend judgment, because seeing only alternatives and not an order to a Highest Cause, they remained uncertain. When they appealed to Christ, He gave them an answer many rabbis would not have considered scientific or satisfying "in terms of human experience."" Yet it was sublime and secure. Wisdom Himself replied to the Apostles, and reassures all in the present instance: supernatural security and salvation are accom-plished through suffering and the triumph of wisdom--"because the works of God were to be made manifest . " (John 9:3). 90 March, 1950 FATHER ELLARD'S REPLY FATHER ELLARD'S REPLY In his inspiring introductory remarks on wisdom Father Hughes proposes a restricted, relative, and special sense of "certain." " If'we accept that, th~n really there hardly seems to be any necessity of my saying more. He' has virtually conceded the great cardinal point of my whole criticism, namely, that Father Garrigou-Lagrange's doc-trine on the gifts and the corresponding thesis on infused ~ontempla-tion insofar.as this depends on that doctrine, are not, in the plain and ordinary sense of the term, certain. Certaint~ , in this sense, espe-cially when predicated of a doctrine that is theological and specu-lative, is opposed not only to probability, bfit even to greater prob-ablity. Similarly, if the langu.age of The Three Ages is to be under-stood as expressing doctrine t~at is certain only in a limited and relative sense, I. was deceived, and my labor was in vain. Perhaps also some other readers will be misled too. It seems sufficient, therefore, to notice 'very briefly only what in Father Hughes's reply is most relevant to my four principal criti-cisms, and not to say more about certain matters in which he' has mistaken my meaning. Nor shall I advert further to several expres-. sions suggestive of what I would disclaim. Those four contentions were: "'The Three Ages is theoretical rather 'than practical; it is one-sided and narrow; an essential part of it, namely, its doctrine of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, is uncertain; and its main thesis is not after all really so significant" (p. 302). I shall follow the order in which Father Hughes deals with them. First, the gifts. As a simple and practical way of ending this ¯ particular argument, I will give to Father Hughes, if he wishes, a list of all the leading theologians of the twentieth century with their works and the appropriate references to what they teach on the giftsl Then he can see at once in black and white whether Catholic theo-logians agree in proposing as certain, in the usual sense, any such elaborate theory of them as that in The Three Ages. These theo-logians will embody, in varying degrees and ways of course, the present mind of the Church; they will be quite conversant with the altogether unique authority of St. Thomas, and they will be aware also of whatever else is pertinent. In [hem, considered adequately and properly, not merely arithmetically, will be found accumulated Catholic theological wisdom in its most mature and authoritative form. When the theologians, who are the most competent to judge in a question of this kind, are as greatly divided and as uncertain as 91 FATHER ELLARD'8 REPLY Review for Religious they actually are, on what evidence could particular persons come to certain knowledge in the matter? Possibly they can; but indeed it seems most unlikely. When the authorities disagree or "are not posi-tive, it would seem wise for individual persons to suspend judgment. If, as Father Hughes seems to agree, the two Thomistic doctrines on the efficacy of grace and the nature of the gifts stand or fall together, then most emphatically are theologians divided. As for the Doctors' of the. Church, the Augustinians claimed St. Augustine for their view on grace; and both Dominicans and Jesuits appealed to St. Augustine and St. Thomas. "Among the more modern Doctors, St. Alphonsus de' Liguori is cited for a modified version of the Augustinian theory; and St. Robert Bellarmine for the Jesuits. According to Von Pastor, St. Francis de Sales declared, in a memo-randum written for Pope Paul V, "that on the whole he shared the view of the Jesuits; and he added that he had made an exhaustive study of the subject, and that he saw considerable difficulties in either opinion, He did not think the time had come for deciding a question on which so many able scholars were unable to agree." (History oF the Popes, XXV, 240.) These facts concerning the controversy on grace are given, not with any intention of arguing such a matter in these pages, but simply to show that, if Father Garrigou-Lagrange's teaching on the gifts is logically involved in this highly disputed sub-ject, surely it cannot be called certain. Father Hughes writes: "Many Dominican theologians are cited as recognizing a controversy upon the matter [of the gifts], but the conclusions of each do not seem worthyof mention by Father Ellard" (p. 82). In the writings referred to I have not noticed any con-clusions contradictory either to the statements quoted from them or to the proposition in substantiation of which the citations were made. If Father Hughes should point out any such conclusion, I shall be glad to acknowledge it. Of course the same five theologians can be quoted in favor of the Thomistic theory of the gifts, and two of them for the certainty of it, for example, Gardeil in th~ Dictionnaire de Theolo~Tie, IV-2, 1776, 1777, and Garrigou-Lagrange himself, in PerFection Chretienne et Contemplation, II, [88-91]; neverthe-less, they witness the fact of disagreement among theologians and admit that others do not share their own view. Secondly, I said of The Three Aoes that it is one-sided and nar-row. Father Hughes replies that it is in accord, if not with lesser lights, at least with St. John of the Cross, the great and ultimate 92 March, 1950 FATHER ELLARD'S REPLY (relative) norm in this matter. But the same agreement is claimed by other authors also, among them tw6 Carmelite spokesmen. In other words, there is more than one interpretation of St. John among orthodox Catholics. ."But Father Garrigou-Lagrange has the right one." Perhaps he has; but we might be better, convinced if he would give us a chance to judge for ourselves. Could he not at least give us fair notice of dissenting opinions?. A fresh sample of div.ergenc~ is furnished by Father Gabriel of St. Mar.y Magdalen in his new book, St. Teresa o~: desus. Although he writes, "'For all that, it can be shown in fact that this teaching of the Teresian school is not irreconcilable with the modern Thomist synthesis of the spiritual life" (p. 44), yet repeatedly throughout - the book he contradicts Father Garrigou-Lagrange on the necessity of infused contemplation. The first point in my criticism reads: "'Tile Three Ages is theo-retical rather than practical." Of all, this was the least important, especially as instruction and inspiration are also in their own way most practical. Father Hughes objects: "The method of The Three Ages cannot rather 'stress theory than practice' if its principal excel-lence is 'its inspirational value,' and if 'a reader feels his heart warmed and his enthusiasm enkindled.' " Why not? In this respect the work resembles treatises on dogmatic theology which are preoccu-pied with doctrine rather than practice and which can at least be bigh.~y inspiring. Again my critic writes: The book "can scarcely be labeled as more given to 'metaphysics than psychology' when the author keeps reminding his readers of the grand" dogmas of Christianity, their 'infinite elevation,' their implications for our 'affective and practical lives.' " The answer is. simple. When a book contains dogmatic, metaphysical, and psychological elements, why cannot it accentuate them in just that order? As a matter of fact, The Three Ages does. I cannot imagine how Father Hughes can say: "In the case of mental prayer, concrete details appeal to Father Ellard as the source of certitude." My final contention was that the main thesis of The Three A~Tes, namely, that infused contemplation comes within the normal devel-opment of the interior life, is not after all very significant. It would be pregnant with meaning and significance if according to the mind of its author it were intended to im'ply that mystical contemplation in the full and obvious sense as described by St. Teresa in The 93 FATHER ELLARD'S REPLY Review/or Religious Interior Castle is normally to be expected. St. Teresa's terminology is used and one anticipates sbmething very wonderful. But then one finds out that only "what is essential" is promised us, and that seems much less indeed. Such language is surely apt to deceive the less wary. On this point, the climax of everything, Father Hughes has sur-prisingly little. I was careful not to deny the thesis of the nor-mality of mystical contemplation, or the unity of the interior life, or even to call them in question, except insofar as the thesis is pre-sented as a corollary from the theory of the gifts. Of course I am not suggesting that the tiniest bit of infused con-templation is not a most precious grace. It is, by all means. Rather, the question is whether the mysticism which Father Garrigou- Lagra~nge holds out in prospect for us is the same as the substantive sublime graces depicted in St. Teresa's Mansions and in St. 3ohn's Spiritual Canticle and The Living Flame. It seems highly fitting that I should add a word on two personal references that some readers will resent. I used a quotation in which Scotus was called '~the Subtle Doctor." There appears to be no reason for the depreciatory language which my critic uses. Scotus was one of the most influential of all Scholastic philosophers and theologians; for centuries innumerable times he has been referred to as "the Subtle Doctor" in more or less the same way that St. Thomas is termed "the Angelic Doctor." There was no suggestion at all that he is a Doctor of the Church; yet he is great enough to have been the theologian to whom above all others under the providence of God the Church owes the dogma of the Immaculate Conception. Likewise it seems inexplicable that Poulain, the author of The Graces of Interior Prayer, A Treatise on Mystical Theology, should be referred to with these words: "apparently not a theologian, how-ever proficient a psychologist" (p. 89). True, Poulain was not a dogmatic theologian, and his design in writing on mystical the-ology was different from that of Father Garrigou-Lagrange, but his work is in certain respects, especially for an account of the facts of mysticism and for practical help in direction, of first-class worth and thus far unsurpassed. To conclude: if I am right in taking Father Hughes to mean that the doctrine of the gifts is to be considered certain only in a relative and limited sense, and not with the obvious and proper force of that term, then on the'chief point we are in agreement. If not, I would 94 March, 19 5 0 COMMUNICATIONS say to readers who have followed this criticism 'and countercriticism, especially if they have actually read The Three Ages, andpr.eferably against the background of Saints Teresa and 3ohn of the Cross: "I speak to men of reflection; judge for yourselves of what I say" (I Cor. 10:lS).--G. AUGUSTINE ELLARD, S.J. ommun{caldons Reverend Fathers: A few years ago in an issue of Emmanuel the reviewer of one of the books of Father Garrigou-Lagrange expressed his doubt of the truth of the characteristic doctrines of that eminent theologian, at the same time stating his hope that a more thorough criticism would be made in a lengthier review. That same doubt and hope have been felt by many who read Christian Perfection and Contemplation and The Three Ages of the Interior Life. In those works the views of the author on some points of dogmatic and of mystical theology were stated in such a way that the reader if not versed in these matters would conclude that these particular views are not seriously disputed by competent Catholic theologians. But they are disputed, and to bring out this fact, as Father Ellard has done in his review of The Three Ages of the Interior Life in your November, 1949, issue, is to render a real service to the reader of these valuable spiritual books. The truth that some of Father (3arrigou-Lagrange's theories are disputed, and are not part of Cath-olic doctrine nor the unanimous opinions of theologians will not hurt anyone. Veritas vos liberabit. In emphasizing the disputed character of .these opinions of the gifted.writer, it is not intended in any way, I am sure, to imply that he has deliberately misled his readers. But Father Garrigou-Lagrange has led the majo.r portion of his life in the midst of skilled theo-logians. He naturally and unconsciously keeps them in mind as he writes. Yet what he writes is being read by many who are n~;t versed in even the fundamentals of theology and who consequently may easily be misle.d by his statement, of his positions. For the general public a clearer statement of what is general Catholic doctrine and what. is not, is certainly desirable. May I add a personal note? After some experience in directing 95 SUMMER SESSIONS ReVietO [or Religi,,os souls who have undoubtedly received the gift of infused contempla-tion, I find it difficult.to believe that Father Garrigou-Lagrange has any real concept, of infused contemplation at all. Everything he writes leads me to believe that he is really thinking and speaking of that prayer which is variously called "acquired contemplation," "the prayer of ~implicity," etc. There is an essential distinction between this simplification of discursive prayer and infused contemplation; and that distinction, I believe, cannot be understood merely from ¯ reading the works of mystical writers or theologians. I thoroughly agree with the Benedictine' who said 'that "the conception that St. John of the Cross had of mysticism and contemplation entirely escaped" the gifted author of Tile Three Ages. No harm can come from giving testimony to the inexactitude of Father Garrigou-Lagrange's distinction between Catholic doctrine and the theories of certain theologians; nor to the incorrectness of his understanding of the fundamental nature of infused contempla-tion.-- A SECULAR PRIEST. [EDITORS' NOTE: Further communications concerning Father Ellard's appraisal.of The Three Ages will be acgepted. These communications should be kept as brief as the subject-matter permits. If at all possible, they should be neatly typed, double-spaced, with generous margin. The sender should sign his name; and the name will be printed unless the content is of a personal nature.] SUMMER SESSION The Plus X School of Liturgical Music, founded by the late Mother Georgia Stevens, will conduct its Thirty-Fourth Summer Session: June 29-Augtist 10. Registration is open to men and women, whether as students matriculated for the B.A. or B.Mus., degrees, or as non-matriculated students; resident and non-resident. Courses will be offered in Gregorian Chant, Gregorian Accompaniment, Con-ducting, Polyphony, Liturgical Singing, Vocal Production, History of Music, Keyboard Harmony,. Music Education, Counterpoint, .etc. Members of the Staff have been long trained in the traditions of Solesmes and have national and international pedagogical experience and recognition. Private lessons in organ, piano, and singing may be procured. Membership is held by the School in the National Association of Schools of Music and it enjoys the official approval of the most eminent music organizations. According to a long-established custom there will be lectures by prominent musicologists and the usual s, eries of weekly concerts. Students will be given the opportunity of~active particip.ation in the Liturgy by the congrega- 96 March, 1950 BOOK REVIEWS tional singing of Holy Mass, Vespers, Compline, and Benediction. The Very Reverend Monsignor Frederic Teller, D.D., Ph.D.,C.G.M. will teach some courses. The Ve.ry Reverend Monsignor Martin B. Hellriegel, of the Church of the Holy Cross, St. Louis, Mo., and the Reverend 3ohn 3. Dougherty, S.T.L.,S.S.D. of the Immaculate Con-ception Seminary, D~rlington, N. 3, will give daily lectures on the Liturgy throughout the Session. For further information write to: Mother Aileen Cohalan, Director, Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart, New York 27, New York. Book Reviews THE MOTHER OF THE SAVIOR AND OUR INTERIOR LIFE. By Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, O.P. Translated by Bernard J. Kelly, C.S.Sp. Pp. 338. B. Herder Book C;o., St. Lou~s, M~ssourL $4.00. The theological and d~votional literature about the Blessed Virgin is so extensive that .a new synthesis by a capable author is highly welcome: Father Garrigou-Eagrange published such a syn-thesis in 1941 (reprinted in 1948). The present translation from thd French makes his book available for the la.rge number of readers who have come to value his works in English versions. The book is divided into two parts. The first part, on "The Divine Maternity and the Plenitude of Grace," is doctrinal. It aims at imparting knowledge about Our Lady and her unique position, in subordination to her divine Son, at the very summit of creation and the supernatural order. The pre-eminence of the divine mater-nity, which dominates all Mariology as the source and end of all Mary's great gifts, is very clearly brought out. Here and there a line of reasoning is pursued that is not very convincing: but strictly theo-logical procedures are hardly to be expected in a work that is more devotional in spirit than scientific. The second part, on "Mary, Mother of all Men: Her Universal Mediation and our Interior Life," demonstrates Mary's activity in the plan of redemption and the important causality she exercises in our salvation and sanctification. In view of the character of the volume, the author has wisely refrained from entering into the contemporary debate among theo-logians on the precise meaning and function of Mary as co-redemp- 97 BOOK R~VlEWS Review [or Religious trix, contenting himself with general expressions that should prove acceptable to all parties in the controversy. The main source for the theological presentation is Merkelbach's well-known Mariologia. But the Fathers, the great Scholastics and their later successors, spiritual writers, orators, and Popes are called upon to yield up their treasures. Many gems have been contributed by Saints Ambrose, Sophronius, Andrew of Crete, Ephrem, and Peter Damien. Saints Bernard, Albert the Great, Bonaventure, Thomas Aquinas, Alphonsus, Grignon de Montfort, and Francis de Sales have all offered their riches. Suarez, Terrien, Dublanchy, le Bachelet, and Hugon have generously thrown open their books. And these great names represent but a sampling of the numerous sources consulted and utilized. The encyclicals of Popes Leo XIII, Pius X, Benedict XV, and Plus XI manifest the mind of the Church on recent Mariological doctrine. The Polish Dominican, Justin of Mi~chow, provides the inspiration for one of the finest chapters in the book, "Special Aspects of Mary's Queenship." The article on the Rosary sheds fresh light on that welt-loved devotion, and sug-gests a way of practicing it that will be profitable to all Catholics. The translator has done his part admirably. Comparison with the French edition shows how faithful Father Kelly has been to the orig!nal. If we did not know that the English edition is a transla-tion, we could hardly guess that fact from reading the book. And that is the supreme criterion of the translator's success. CYRIL VOLLERT, S.J. IGNATIAN METHODS OF PRAYER. By Alexandre Brou, S.J. Translated by William J. Young, S.J. Pp. xl ~ 203. The Bruce Publishing Com-pany, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1949. $3.00. The aim of this book is very clearly stated by the author when he tells us that he set out to discover "what exactly did St. Ignatius want to say, and what did he say" on the subject of prayer. The word "discover" is used purposely, for the many commentators on St. Ignatius have not always clarified his thought nor passed it on unadulterated to their readers. Father Brou observes: "Now it some-times happens that with'the best intentions in the World his thought has been misunderstood. Authors . . . have viewed the teachings of the Saint through a mist of commentary, and a commentator never fails to add something to his text" (p. vii). Father Brou gdes back to sdurces, the text of the Spiritual Exer-cises, and he interprets them in the light of Stl Ignatius' personal March, 1950 BOOK REVIEWS letters, supplementing his findings with. the writings of intimate con-temporaries of the Saint--St. Francis Xavier, Blessed Peter Faber, Father Nadal--to mention but three. The work is divided into four main divisions. In the first St. Ignatius' teaching on prayer and the interior life, the ,relation of prayer to the apostolate, seeking God in all things, the presence of God, and finally mystical prayer are treated. The second and third parts are devoted to the preparations for prayer and the so-called methods of prayer respectively, while the fourth part treats the coun-sels for the time during and after prayer, and tl~e rules for the dis-cernment of spirits. Two features of the teachin'g of.St. Ignatius as presented in this book are noteworthy. First is the continuity ot: practically every portion of the Ignatian teaching with a tradition of Catholic spirit-uality which he both inherited and developed into the forms found in the Exercises. The other is what we might call the compatibility of high prayer with the active life of the apostolate. Great mystic ¯ that he was, SI~. Ignatius was eminently a man of the active aposto-late, what we would call nowadays a man of affairs. He conceived the man of affairs as a man of prayer, and a life of prayer as not at all incompatible with a full daily schedule. "To St. Francis Borgia he asserts that it is more perfect to be able to find God everywhere and in all things than to have need of an oratory and long prayers to enter into union with Him" (p. 39). The book combines the excellent qualities of thoroughness and brevity. It can be r~ad and reread with profit.--T. L. McNAIR, S.J. LITTLE CATECHISM OF PRAYER. By Father Gabr;el of St. Mary Mag-dalen, O.C.D. Transla÷ed by ÷he Discalced Carmelite Nuns. Pp. 44. Monastery of Discalced Carmelites, Concord, New Hampshire, 1949. $.2S (paper). People in general who cultivate mental prayer and v.ery particu-larly all those who would like to practice it in the spirit and after the manner of the Carmelites, traditional leaders in matters of the contemplative life, will welcome this Little Catechism. In six chap-ters and eighty-nine questions it introduces one to "prayer in the contemplative life," "the methbd of mental prayer," "preparation and reading," "meditation and colloquy," "difficulties in prayer," and "the presence of God." There is nothing theoretical or learned or meticulously precise about it. Evidently it is meant, as its title suggests, to be a simple and practical primer. On the other hand 99 BOOK NOTICES Review for Religious there "are thoughts in it which would be helpful and inspiring, I should say, to almost anyone, even tb contemplatives far advanced in the ways of prayer and sanctity. For instance, from the very first page one might learn this distinction between the Christian life and the contemplative life: the good Christian "lives /:or God," whereas the contemplative soul "lives not only for God, but also with God." Likewise it is emphasized at the very beginning in a quotation from St. Teresa that to reach the higher degrees of prayer one must per-force add the practice of mortification, "because prayer and comfort do not go together."--G. AUGUSTINE ELLARD, S.,J. BOOK NOTICES BLESSED MARIA GORETTI: Martyr for Purity, by 3ohn Cart, C.SS.R., is an admirable life of the twentieth-century martyr whom the Holy Father intends to canonize in the course of the present holy year. Blessed Maria sets an ideal before modern youth who live in an atmosphere so perilous to purity. (Dublin: Clonmore ~ Reynolds, Ltd., 1949. Pp. 70. 3/6.) Father Louis I. Fanfani, O.P., an outstanding modern canonist, has published a third edition of DE IURE RELIGIOSORUM. While keeping all the good qualities of previous editions, the book has been brought up to date and considerably increased in volume. A separate chapter is devoted to the newly established Secular Institutes. Four important documents are added by way of appendices: I. The new Norrnae of 1921; II. Letter of the Sacred Congregation of. Religious of 1931 on the formation and training of religi6us for sacred orders; III. Instruction on the enclosure of nuns with solemn vows issued in 1924; and, IV. The Statutes for Extert~ Sisters of monasteries of nuns, approved by Pope Pius XI in 1929 an'd published by the Sacred Congregation of Religious two years later. These documents are given in the original Latin text. (Rovigo, Italy: .Istituto Padano di Arti Grafiche, 1949. Pp. xxxi + 810. L. 2000.) OUR ETERNAL VOCATION, written anonymously by a Carmelite nun in England, is intended for all, priests, religious, or laity, who are interested in attaining higher sanctity. Of its three main sections, the first treats of sanctity in gener.al, its meaning, its instruments, its fruits (pp. 9-135). The second is concerned with religious voca-tion in particular (pp. 135-177). The last tells about the sanctity and mission of St. Therese of Lisieux (pp. 177-207). The doctrine seems to be solid throughout and Jr'is presented palatably by a crisp style tinged With feeling and garnished with 100 March, 195 0 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS striking illustrations. The book contains some shrewd psychology on the value of sincerity in attaining holiness, on methods of over-coming mental depression, on the natural requisites for a religious vocation. As might be expected, the author emphasizes the "Iittle way" of St. Therese, but she does not derogate from other methods of acquiring sanctity. (Westminster, Maryland: The Newman Press, 1949. Pp. 207, $2.25.) BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS [These notices are purely descriptive, based on a cursory examination of the books listed. Some of the books will be reviewed or will be given longer notices later. The list is complete up to Feb. 10.] CARMELITE THIRD'ORDER PRESS, 6427 Woodlawn Avenue, Chi-. cago 37. Take This Scapulart. By Carmelite Fathers and Tertiaries. Pp. 270. $2.50. Unfolds the story of Our Lady's Scapular. FRANCISCAN HERALD PRESS, 1434 W. 51st Street, Chicago. Tertiar~ Office of the Parers. Pp. 103. $.50 (30% discount for orders of 25 or more). A vest-pocket booklet of aids in reciting the office prepared especially for members of the Third Order of St. Francis. Also contains the Seraphic Office, the Office of the Pas-sion, and the Franciscan Tertiary Office with reflections. M. H. GILL ~ SON, Ltd., 50 Upper O'Connell Street, Dublin. Fair as the Moon. By Father M. Oliver, O.Cist.R. Pp. xi -b 235. 12s. 6d. A portrait of Mary, the Mother of God and "Purest of Creatures." Catherine McAule~I: The First Sister of Mercy. Pp. x ÷ 434. 15/-. "This book, the fruit of considerable research, is based largely on hitherto unpublished document's, and throws fresh light on Cath-erine McAuley's life and work." [5. HERDER BOOK COMPANY, St. Louis 2, Missouri. Ps~/cbiatq/and Asceticism. By Felix D. Duffey, C.S.C. Pp. 132. $2.00. True Stories for First Communicants. Pp. 80. $1.25. First Communion Davis. Pp. 96. $1.25. Both by a Sister of Notre Dame. True stories which should help children in preparing for their first Communion and after. The books were first printed in 1919 and 1920 respectively. The Life of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Two volumes. By Maurice 101 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS for Religiou* Meschler, S.J. Pp. xxii q-- 545 arid viii -b 551. $12.00 (set). Translated by Sister Mary Margaret, O.S.B. This is the fifth edi-tion of the author's well-known meditations on the life of Christ. LEMOYNE COLLEGE PRESS, LeMoyne Heights, Syracuse 3, New York. Inigo de Logola. By Pedro Leturia, S.J. Pp. xiii + 209. $4.50. The story of the early life of St. Ignatius up to and including his conversion. LIBRERIA FRANCESCO FERRARI, Via dei Cestari, 2, Kome, Italy. Manuale Tbeorico-Practicurn Tbeologiae Moralis ad Mentern D. Thomae. By Father Louis J. Fanfani, O.P. Pp. xix + 648. This is the first of a set of three volumes. It treats of man's last end, human acts, laws, conscience, the virtues, sins, and censures. It is planned to complete the set within the course of the year. LITURGICAL PRESS, St. John's Abbey, Collegeville, Minnesota. Life. and Miracles of St. Benedict. By Pope St. Gregory the Great. Translated by Odo J. Zimmermann, O.S.B., and Benedict R.Avery, O.S.B. Pp. xv q- 87. $2.00 (cloth); $.90 (paper). A translation of Book Two of the Dialogues of St. GregorY. MCLAUGHLIN ~ REILLY, 45 Franklin Street, Boston 10. When the People Sang. By Marie Pierik. Pp. 32. $.50 (paper). "A simple treatise on the Gregorian Chant, its history and use." NEWMAN PRESS, Westminster, Maryland. Treatise on Prager and Meditation. By St. Peter of Alcantara. Translated by Dominic Devas, O.F.M. Pp. xx ÷ 211. $2.50. Besides this classic treatise on prayer, the book contains an introdtic-tion and sketch of the saint's life and a complete English version of Pax Anirnae, a treatise formerly attributed to the saint. The Spiritual Life of the Priest. By M. Eugene Boylan, O.C.R. Pp. 161. $2.50. A reprint of a series of articles which first appeared in the pages of The Priest. The Holg Year of Jubilee. By Herbert Thurston, S.J. Pp. xxiv -[- 420. $4.25. An account of the history and ceremonial of the Roman jubilee. Contains many illustrations. First printed in 1900. The Wag of Divine Love. Pp. xxxvii q- 532. $4.25. A com-plete account of the revelations of the Sacred Heart as made to Sister Josefa Menendez, Coadjutrix Sister of the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. There is also a short biography of the Sister and an analytical index. 102 March, 1950 BOOK ANNOUNCEMENTS Purgatorg and the Means to AvoidIt. By Martin Jugie, A.A. Pp. 203. $3.25. A doctrinal and devotional treatment of a subject that is of interest to all. The book is translated from the seventh French edition by Malachy Gerard Carroll. The Life and Revelations of Saint Gertrude: Virgin and Abbess, of the Order of St. Benedict. Pp. xlv + 570. $4.00. A reprinting of an old favorite which first appeared some eighty years ago. Prager for All Times. By Pierre Charles, S.J. Translated by Maud Monahan. Foreword by C. C. Martindale, S.J. Pp. 328. $3,50. A book on prayer designed "to mak~ smooth the ways of the spirit and to unfold the eternal message of the nearness of God." Little Catechism of the Act of Oblation of St. Th~r~se of the Child Jesus. By the Carmelites of Lisieux. Translated by Rev. Mi-chael Collins, A.M. Pp. 22. $.25. PROVINCE OF ST. JOSEPH OF THE CAPUCHIN ORDER, 1740 Mt. EI-liott Avenue, Detroit, Michigan. Meditations: Volume I: Advent to Ash Wednesday. By Bernar-dine Goebel, O.F.M.Cap. Translated from the German by Berch- "mans Bittle, O.F.M.Cap. Pp. 537. $3.50 (paper). ST. CATHARINE JUNIOR COLLEGE LIBRARY, St. Catharine, Ken-tucky. The Catholic Booklist 1950. Edited by Sister SteIla Marls, O.P., for the Catholic Library Association. Pp. 74. $.65 (paper). "An annotated bibliography, for the most part Catholic in authorship or subject matter, chosen as a guide to the recreational and instructional reading of Catholics." UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME PRESS, Notre Dame, Indiana. The Christfan Vfrtues. By Charles E. Sheedy, C.S.C. Pp. xi q- 361. $3.00. A book on moral theology for college students and lay readers. God and the World of Man. By Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C. Pp. viii -}- 318. $3.00. A theological text for the layman. Treat-ises on faith, God, the Trinity, creation, the elevation and fall of .man, the end of the world and man. JOSEPH F. WAGNER, INC., 53 Park Place, New York 7. --Must It be Communism? By Augustine J. Osgniach, O.S.B. Pp. x -]- 486. A philosophical inquiry into the major issues of today. The last three chapters are by Jerome L. Toner, O.S.B. 103 .uestdons and Answers We have an application from a woman who has obtained a permanent separation from her husband and now wishes to try out the religious llfe. Creusen, ReBgious Men and H/omen ~n the Code, p. 135, states: "A wife abandoned by her husband., does not need his consent to enter, rell-gion. One may see in R.C.R., 1939, under what conditions her entry into religion may be obtained." Please tell us what R.C.R. stands for, and, if convenient, give us a summary of the conditions referred to. R.C.R. refers to a review for religious published in Belgium by Father Creusen and his associates under the title Reoue des Commun-autos Religieuses (53 rue Royale, Brussels, Belgium). Here is a sum-mary of what Father Creusen wrote in the answer referred to. (1) The aspirant must not have been in any way the gravely culpable cause of the separation. (2) There must be moral certitude that she cannot be forced legally to abandon the religious life in order to resume married life. A civil divorce is the best guarantee. (For this the bishop's permission should be obtained.) (3) If the appli-cant has children, their care and support will have to be guar~inteed. (4) The superior of an institute or monastery who is willing to accept her on trial must be convinced that she has an extraordinary vocation and that there are particular reasons to anticipate her perse-verance. If all these conditions are fulfilled, the person in question may appeal to the Holy See for the necessary dispensation. She should do so personally. To this personal appeal a letter of recommenda-tion from her bishop should be added. This recommendation should be given at least regarding the good character of the person, even though the bishop does not wish to support her application for the dispensation. Finally, a letter from the religious superior who is willing to accept the candidate, stating that she believes the applicant to have an extraordinary vocation and that the community is willing to receive her on trial, will complete the official documents required. A baptismal certificate of the applicant and a copy of the decree of civil divorce ~hould be sent along with the other documents. Father Creusen concludes his answer with the following para-graph: "It must be added that the Holy See shows itself very prudent and very reserved in granting this dispensation. The utmost good will in the beginning is far, it seems, from guaranteeing perseverance 104 QuEs-r~o~s ~no ANswrRs in vocations of this kind. It is useless to encourage the application without exceptional reasons." Canon law cjrants to superiors the rlgttf #o extend: (I) the posfulancy, but not beyond six months (canon 539, § 2); (2) the time of the novif~ofe, but not beyond six months {canon 571, § 2); (3~ the period of temporary vows, but