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1a. JUNE 21, 2003 |  |
But the reality? The Douai community was founded nearly four hundred years ago in Paris, that is, in exile. The community sent missionaries to England to preserve and extend the ancient Faith, frequently endangered. But more: dispersed by the French Revolution, the community was re-founded in Douai in northern France about two hundred years ago. And once more, just one hundred years ago, the community had to move again, seeking refuge this time in Woolhampton. Today we celebrate the centenary of the community's coming to England. Sadly, Douai School did not reach its centenary, but happily many members of the Douai Society are able to be with us this weekend. Hardly an unruffled passage which would allow the monks to stroll romantically in the monastery garden, book in hand. These men were buffeted by the political and social crises of their times but remained steadfast in their faith. Faith in Jesus Christ, the real abbot of any monastery, was their anchor. We can only admire that faith.
One could tell the same story about the communities at Downside and Ampleforth. In fact there have been very few tranquil periods in monastic history. Saint Benedict's monastery, Monte Cassino, fell to the Lombards shortly after his death. In the ninth century many Bavarian monasteries were destroyed by the Huns. Two hundred years ago, in the wave of secularisation and confiscation which followed the French Revolution, fifteen hundred monasteries were closed down. Only fifty survived. In recent times, the Nazis and Communists closed many monasteries. In all of these cases, monks and nuns tried after years and even decades to re-establish the monastic life.
What then is a monastery? It is anything but a static, harmonious paradise. Rather, it is a community which in the course of decades and centuries is entwined with political and social change in the often chequered history of the country in which it is situated. A monastery is a community of men or woman who are fascinated by Jesus Christ and his Gospel and try to live out this fascination as interpreted by the Rule of Benedict. This Rule guarantees the monk or nun the basis for a Christian, peaceful and human living together. But such a life can be very varied. Tasks can change, sometimes the community has to seek a more suitable location in which better to live out its ideals.
For this reason I should like to compare the Benedictine community to the People of Israel on its pilgrimage through the desert. The monastery is often depicted in theological terms as the Church in microcosm - ecclesiola - and the Church itself was described by the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council as God's pilgrim people. This monastic Church is a constant journey of and by people of very different characters and talents. The monks or nuns journey with their abbot or abbess like the people of Israel with Moses, God himself being their invisible centre and goal. Parts of their journey can be pleasant and sunny, but the journey also has its dangerous stretches. There are periods of hunger and thirst, both in the material and spiritual sense. The travellers become tired and must rest. They need encouragement. They have their doubts and from time to time have to search once more for their true identity. But the Kingdom of God always lies ahead, beckoning them on in their shared journey.
This is true not only for the history of the community but for the history of every individual monk and nun. And here, too, not infrequently, we come against an idyllic, unhistorical view of things. The monk or nun makes vows and thereafter lives serenely, day-in and day-out, what was promised. The perfect monk or nun does not, it seems, have any problems. Perhaps such persons exist - but I wonder. I doubt if such really lives his or her vocation in a fully human fashion. To be human means to become human one's whole life long. It means constantly to be maturing, often through many crises. A wise abbot or abbess will accompany the brother or sister in love and give him or her time, even when this sometimes requires great patience in the face of weaknesses and changes of mood. This is the laborious path to true freedom, the liberating distancing from the so-called things of this world, from the many things which for a while seem very important to us, until we can finally appear empty-handed before the Lord - empty handed so that we can receive everything from him.
Saint Benedict describes the monastic way as a constant search for God. God is always greater than our imagination. We have never caught up with him and we can never possess him. Out monastic living is a wrestling with God. Like Jacob, who spent a whole night wrestling with God, many of us have been struck on the hip by him and are marked for life. The journey with God is an exciting adventure. At first we feel called by God and attracted by him. We grow in our vocation and get the impression that God has gripped us and will never let us go. We want to withdraw from him in order to escape his grasp. But he loves us too much to allow us to fall. He holds us fast, challenges us. Increasingly, we let go and turn towards him. In our daily praying of the psalms we are constantly presented with the vision of his glory and love. This wrestling is at once painful and fascinating. It is the history of God's loving turning towards the person and of this person's loving response. It is only in the course of years and decades that we come to realise the devotion, the sheer hard work, demanded by this love. It demands of us that we give up everything in order to give ourselves completely to God.
Strangely, this is also the way towards becoming an ever-freer human person. Increasingly, we become able to see and understand our monastic brothers and sisters in the light of this wrestling. They are people who are on the same journey as I am. I recognise God's love in them, God's love working in them. And we can see and meet other people outside the monastery in this way. We become able to see people as God sees them and not filtered through ourselves and our prejudices. We become able to listen to and be open to our fellow human beings. This perspective of loving respect will inform how we deal with people in pastoral situations, with our pupils, with those who are searching and who come to us. Indeed this perspective can help us gain a new relationship with all of God's creation.
The life of a monk or nun is anything but boring. It is, as I have said, a fascinating adventure to which we abandon ourselves. And this adventure touches the life of the whole monastic community. We need constantly to be open to and to accompany one another in our efforts to find our way.
Dear confreres of Douai: Your community has already had an adventure filled past. The future will be just as rich in challenges and surprises. But God is your focus. The last words of Jesus in Matthew's gospel are, 'Be sure of this: I am with you always to the end of the world'. May this promise give you the courage to continue your journey cheerfully and with serenity. My wish is that many young men, fascinated by this adventure, will find their way to you and share this journey with you into the community's future.
created 25/06/03 by GH
Webmaster, Douai Abbey, Upper Woolhampton, Reading, Berks. RG7 5TQ