Cor Orans: Into the Woods

Earlier this month the instruction Cor Orans was released by the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. The document makes sweeping changes to the way women's religious communities are governed.

I am not going to attempt a summary of this document, but I want to recommend to you a piece by the Remnant. It is written by Hilary White, but the crux of the article is some commentary by an anonymous Carmelite sister explaining how the new instruction essentially demolishes the contemplative nature of her order. I have heard similar observations from other individuals who know much more about religious constitutions than myself. I recommend you read the article, but more so, if you happen to know any women in contemplative religious orders, get their insights on the document.

There is one thing I want to contribute to this conversation, however: The time is approaching when those who want to live out an authentic religious charism are going to have to do so outside the framework of the institutional Church. No, I am not promoting schism or disunity in any way. I am merely pointing out that, while the Church can exercise some control over religious institutes, it does not have authority over religious life in its entirety. And an authentic religious life might need to be found outside her existing structures.

Some examples of what I mean: The Church can tell you you cannot start a religious order or cannot govern an order in a certain way; however, the Church cannot tell a man he can't retreat to the woods and live alone in prayer and penance. An ecclesiastical stamp of approval is needed for a group to start taking novices or receiving solemn vows; an ecclesiastical stamp of approval is not needed for a group of single women to move in together and live an ordered life of religious discipline. A religious rule must be approved by a pope or bishop; a religious lifestyle needs no such official approval and can be lived anytime in any place on the simple initiative of the individual.

In other words, there is no prohibition on doing the things religious do, so long as it is not formalized. And in the current ecclesiastical climate, such measures might be the best way to live out a religious vocation and renew the Church. Obviously such people cannot  make solemn vows that are recognized ecclesiastically; such groups cannot call themselves "religious orders" or lead the public to think they are. But they can live religious lifestyles in accord with what they feel called to, and that's what is most essential here.

I honestly do not think this is novel. St. Anthony neither had nor needed ecclesiastical approval to move out into the Egyptian desert. St. Benedict did not ask anybody's permission when he retreated to the caves of Subiaco. St. Francis was certainly allowed by his bishop to live in San Damiano and make repairs there, but his initial renunciation of wealth and life of begging was spontaneous. St. Ignatius took to the cave of Manresa to study and pray of his own initiative, not because some bishop told him he could.

Obviously it did not always happen this way; in many cases a new order or a reform was established through official channels. But I want to recall to our minds that this was not universal. Often times what occurred was a man or woman followed a spontaneous prompting of God to live a life of poverty, chastity, and obedience and was subsequently so influential that the Church found an official outlet for their charism.

Yes, the days are coming when a group of women who feel called to serve God in the religious life, rather than join some existing order, will look at ways to fulfill that call outside the official framework - obviously still in full unity with the Church, but in a manner that is more about living a certain lifestyle than in receiving any official status. It looks like such "official" status is becoming less meaningful these days anyway.

Can such self-initiated efforts eventually be brought under the Church's official aegis? Given their good fruits and (hopefully) a change in mentality in the Magisterium or course. But distressing news should not stop men and women from living a vocation now if they feel called to it in whatever way they are able. If you are a single woman and feel called to religious life but you can't realistically find a convent that will be faithful to traditional spirituality, then find three other woman who feel the same, rent a house, study the discipline of the religious life, and start doing it yourselves. Just act. Be the holiness the Church needs. Trust God to attend to the details.

I've always been an advocate of this kind of "into the woods" sort of approach to these things. Our civilization was built in such ways. Christendom only ever existed because men and women walked into the woods in hopes of finding a quiet spot to pray. It will only be rebuilt in a similar fashion.

Walk into the woods. 

Quiet Grace

The other night, I unexpectedly had to drive my eldest daughter to her ballet class. I rarely do this as I'm usually working in the evenings and this is something that her mother is much more engaged in. But I always relish the chance of spending more time with my eldest and so set my evening plans aside to drive her to her class.

Her class was a few towns over, across about fifteen miles of open country. She has the last class of the evening, so it was already quite dark when I dropped her off at 8:30 PM. What would I do with myself for that free hour? Lately I have taken to jogging whenever I have free time, which is great for clearing my mind on top of the obvious health benefits.

Though it was only about 8 degrees, I started jogging around the town. It's a very small town; those who are from the Midwest will recognize it's type intuitively in my description. An old, Victorian era settlement with all it's historic buildings clustered along one main strip. Tall, two and three story stately brick structures with their Italianate facades, ornate cornices, and oversized rounded-arched windows, all running together. The side streets filled with imposing, Victorian homes of equal splendor, but still quaint in their own small-town USA sorta way.

I started jogging down the main strip, my breath a vaporous fog in front of my face as I moved. I passed by the dark windows of boutiques and resale shops, offices of lawyers and insurance agents, and flower shops - by now all closed. The town was still and quiet. I have always found a certain kind of loveliness in the stillness of a cold, winter night, a beauty that even the ridiculously frigid temperatures of a February winter night in Michigan cannot efface. The snow, the ice, the cold...there has always been a sort of purity about it for me.

I passed under the eerie flash of the town's solitary blinking yellow traffic light. Presently I passed out of the main section of town and saw ahead the looming spire of a church. Upon getting closer, I saw it was an incredible old neo-Gothic structure made entirely out of fieldstone. In the old days it used to be a custom that when a rural congregation was ready to construct it's permanent church, farmers would all contribute stones from their fields to the building of the church. The resulting structure would be neo-Gothic stylistically but constructed entirely out of raw, rounded fieldstone instead of brick. This is somewhat common in rural communities around the Midwest; I assume there are similar traditions elsewhere.

I was pleased to see it was a Catholic church, and even more pleased when I spied warm, yellow light glowing inside the windows. Could they possibly be open, I wondered? In this desolate, cold little village could the Catholic church alone have its doors unlocked at this time of night? I jogged over to the parish steps, huffing, and walked up. Sure enough, not only was the church unlocked, but they were having Eucharistic Adoration. Two older gentlemen were reading and praying quietly. Of course! It's a First Friday, I said to myself.

I was pleasantly surprised with the interior of the church (the pic atop this post). Sure, it had a table altar and the original high altar had been removed. But at least the tabernacle was in its rightful place. Sure, some of it had been modernized.  But by and large it was very aesthetically pleasing. And when the Lord is on the altar, everything is more beautiful.

As I walked in and crossed myself, I noticed the confessional light was on and door ajar. Could I be so fortunate? Yes, indeed! A priest was waiting in the confessional...and there was no line! I had not planned on making a confession this night, but I wasn't about to pass this up. I ducked right in there and did the best I could to make a spontaneous confession. I could tell from his voice that the priest was African. Considered naturally, how very out of place, an African priest in a town like this! But in the order of grace, it was just as it should be. I made a decent confession, received some very consoling words from the warm, slow voice on the other side of the screen, and walked out with my soul lighter.

I knelt in the pew and spent some time adoring the Lord and thanking Him for this unexpected, quiet moment of grace He had made for me here, in this unexpected place. But that's all how the beautiful things in life are. It is easy to point out the ugly, the wicked, the cold, the disappointing...these things manifest themselves easily to us and require no labor to search out. But the beautiful, the good, the unexpected little quiet moments of grace...these things are found only by the diligent who search for them, who are willing to labor on their behalf. The beautiful things in life do not yield themselves up easily, but when they do, they compensate for the ugliness fourfold.

After sometime I meandered back down the main street to my daughter's ballet studio. I was able to spend some time warming up before she came out. She's old enough now that I was able to slump into the passenger seat of my truck and let her drive me home - deo gratias!

Yes, the quiet simple moments of grace are always there. They might not always be a little Catholic parish with the Blessed Sacrament exposed and an open confessional, but grace is always there for those who are disposed to see it. Lord, give me eyes to see and ears to hear.

+AMDG+

"A saint in Heaven"

Today is the 50th anniversary of the death of Fr. Reginald Garrigou-LaGrange, OP, who was perhaps the greatest theologian of the 20th century.

While he is known for many things, the least of which includes directing the doctoral work of Karol Wojtyla, two of his lasting contributions to 20th century theology are his synthesis of systematic theology with spiritual theology and also his vehement defense of the scholastic tradition against modernity.

Regarding the first, Fr. Garrigou-LaGrange undertook the synthesis of Thomistic theology with the spiritual works of St. John of the Cross, showing how the two were in fact complementary. His most well-known spiritual work is entitled The Three Ages of the Interior Life, and can be found online in its entirety.

He is perhaps more well-known for the second of the two, his defense of the scholastic tradition against modernity. He is alleged to have ghost-written Pope Pius XII's great encyclical Humani generis, "Concerning Some False Opinions Threatening to Undermine the Foundations of Catholic Doctrine". Fr. Garrigou-LaGrange also gives a clear, concise, and very readable treatise against the Nouvelle Theologie in his famous essay, "Where is the New Theology Leading Us?"

His book, Reality: A Synthesis of Thomistic Thought, is perhaps one of the best introductions to theology in existence, apart from the Summa itself.

While his intellectual merit is beyond dispute, Fr. Garrigou-LaGrange also lived what he taught. Asceticism was not merely an intellectual pursuit, but a way of life, the way of holiness for a humble Dominican friar. Perhaps today, then, we can ask for the intercession of Sts. Dominic and Thomas for the raising of this holy man to the altar of our Lord.

For more information on Fr. Reginald Garrigou-LaGrange, please see the biography written by Fr. Thomas Crean, O.P. to be found here.

Study Onto Salvation

Praying, fasting and almsgiving, the three eminent good works. Blessed is the man that studies to perfect these three parts of his Christian life. Those 10 and strict commandments, blessed is the man who keeps these perfectly and who has the love of the Father and the company of our Lord constantly.  John 14:23  

It is interesting to note how many great Saints were illiterate and yet so perfect in virtue and full of wisdom.  For example, St Anthony of the Desert never learned how to read or write, and yet he came to a great understanding of virtue through its constant practice and imitation of those around him who exceeded him in virtue. (To hear more on the life of St Anthony of the Desert, check out our new Audiobook on his struggles with demons!)

It seems to have become like an echo that continues to reverberate throughout the Catholic world in recent times “Know your faith” or “We have to study our faith”.  In my limited experience of going about to Catholic gatherings or listening to recordings  of various conferences and homilies, it is normally one of the primary solutions presented to the crisis in the Church proposed to the faithful.

The exhortation to come to know one’s faith is a good one. Faith most certainly comes from hearing Romans 10:17 and all scripture is useful for teaching 2 Tim 3:16:17. But just like prayers can be said out of self love or out of a desire to be seen, fasting for vanity, and almsgiving for human respect, study of the faith can become an occasion for curiosity, a source of pride, a distraction from duty, a departure from the cross.  Like any good thing, it must be subjected to reason, and it must have some specific end in mind.

 “Leave curious questions.  Study such matters as bring thee sorrow for sin rather than amusement.” The Imitation of Christ, Chapter 20 Of the love of solitude and silence.

It is fair to say that it does a man no good to memorize all the scriptures, or have an encyclopedic knowledge of the Catechism when he offends God by his life by breaking the commandments.  We shall know if our study is motivated from the desire to please God if it is done with the mind of conquering sin, growing in virtue, the defense of His honor, or the perfecting of a good work.

If you feel irritation at me because you believe such a thing is obvious, let me explain why I mentioned it.  Ever know a Catholic apologist who could not guard his tongue from bad speech?  How about Catholic bloggers who cannot help themselves at slandering and attacking others?  Or  knowing a person who, after studying theology, feels more comfortable in committing sins because they better understand the distinctions between mortal and venial sins? (This is explicitly mentioned as a problem in Outlines for Asceticism for Seminarians by FJ Remeler, a pre-Vatican II textbook)

I’m sure you could think of your own examples.  The truth is that the world, the flesh and the devil will do anything to interfere with the keeping and perfecting of the commandments and of our own prayer, fasting and almsgiving. God, in order to confound His enemy, allows us to be tested (like He did with St Anthony) but He is present during the struggle of his faithful. “The Lord is as a man of war, Almighty is His Name.” Exodus 15:3

“Let this especially be the common aim of all, neither to give way having once begun, nor to faint in trouble, nor to say: We have lived in the discipline a long time: but rather as though making a beginning daily let us increase our earnestness”  St Anthony of the Desert

Whenever we pick a work to study, hear a homily, or observe virtuous actions let us strive to make practical resolutions to become more pleasing to God, especially by more strictly keeping the commandments and perfecting good works.  By doing this, God Himself will teach you “And as for you, let the unction, which you have received from Him, abide in you. And you have no need that any man teach you; but as His unction teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie. And as it hath taught you, abide in Him.” 1 John 2:27

No matter what one does - apologetics, teaching catechism, instructing home-schooled children, or just being a good neighbor - this is the means of study that gives glory to God's kingdom and draws others to Christ our King.

“And it is [the interior life] important to us not only as individuals, but also in our social relations; for it is evident that we can exert no real or profound influence upon our fellow-men unless we live a truly interior life ourselves” The Three Conversions of the Spiritual Life, Fr Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange OP

So let us not run to study to find excuses to break commandments, avoiding dry prayer, enduring hunger and or suffering deprivation. “So let us daily abide firm in our discipline, knowing that if we are careless for a single day the Lord will not pardon us, for the sake of the past, but will be wrath against us for our neglect.” St Anthony of the Desert.