People who have been chosen to practice the Beatitudes, to sing them on Sunday, so that people should be prompt about ending work at 4.30, and work will begin for all right after chapter. And Father Tomrick will post a notice in the day about where the singing practice will be held. But it would be well if people could stop work sharply at 4.30, and and go to the practices. Today it is the day for me. Detachment day. And I really swept. I'm not prevented tears from speaking. But so, before I leave, I want first to thank you for the good examples you gave me, you gave me the retreat, I gave you words, you gave me examples.

[01:10]

And then, for your patience in hearing me speaking so difficultly, so long, but mostly the driver and father had given me permission to prolong the talks. And then, secondly, to ask your prayer. Not for me, I'm glad you mentioned me this morning, the Mass, but first for my community and my abbot. You know, each monastery has its problem, and we have ours. And we have a wonderful abbot, extremely kind, real friend for each of us, and so on. But I wish to pray for him. The predecessor was already a saint. who we know, who is drawn to become a hermit. He is now a hermit in the Martinique. He's so happy. But now, I like to have a book, who I think Father Dabba just knows, who was 25 years prior in St.

[02:15]

Jerome in Rome. It's extremely good. So pray for him and for our whole community. And also pray for St. Bernard. I mean, the work I have to do for the edition is difficult. I think now it's in the good way, but it's always a great responsibility in front of the church to do difficult work, to do it well. And so I sincerely hope you will help me. Now, to conclude this retreat, do I have a special message or a special warning to convey? I'm just a visitor. I'm not a visitator. So I have not to interfere in the affairs of the monastery. But as you have been so kind, so frank, so sincere, speaking with me so intimately, perhaps I may draw some conclusions which you already know, but just to emphasize things we are already convinced.

[03:21]

And I think that could consist in two points. First, what I could call conventual humility. That means first being aware of your responsibility, the responsibility of Mount Savior in the monasticism of today. That means of the significance of this house. only of the personal vocation of each one, which has to be realized as in all the monasteries of the world and all religious houses, but also of the significance. The charity of Christ, which Christ has for the church, has put you together to do something specific in the church, you know. The monastery is a sign in the monastical.

[04:26]

And just two days ago, I got a letter of Thomas Merton, I said, please give my cordial good wishes to Don Damasus and the community of Mount Saviour. I hear nothing but good about them and Weston. Surely they are a lie to American monasticism, and I must add to the world monasticism. I will send to Don Damasus some mimeographed things in token of friendship and in union of prayer. I don't treat you that flatter you. I didn't come for that. But when St. Benedict says that the Perican monk has to have something to say, it is not always unpleasant thing. So St. Bernard says in some way also, sometimes, obviously I'm being sort of scholar, I often use that when I... Begins to lecture, they introduce me, they flatter me, and St.

[05:30]

Bernard says we must be able to accept praises to please people who give them. So we should please. But it's true that you are a sign, and Merton says you are a light. But that increases your responsibility of conventual unit, not only personal unit, but conventual unit. You are not, and you must not be or become, so to speak, a show monastery. Not one to show yourself, your life, neither to people outside going home to explain them what to do, nor to guests or visitors coming to see you, nor by any sort of publicity, publication, and so on. You must remain in this conventual humility, which will be manifested by the fact that you will expand the less possible, according to what we said on monastic economy, which is, I think, the good track of the whole of Saint Benedict and authentic monastic tradition.

[06:41]

So not to show yourself, but just to be what you are, to be or not to be. That's the question. Not to show or not to show, to say or not to say, but just to exist. Consentual humility. And this is not an approach I addressed you. You have it. But just to conceal, you have to keep it. And you will have to understand, as an essential element, of monastic life, and therefore of this monastic life that we want to live in more simple ways. You know how often the recent popes insisted, and Pope John often also, on this idea of umbratilis vita, shaded life, hidden life. That's monastic life. St. Bernard has a strong formula, I see.

[07:42]

Labor et la tebre solent on estare vita monastica. labor means manual labor and the fact of being hidden that's the real novelty of monastic life and that's according to the real basic basis of monastic life often emphasized by people like peter the venerable and so on and but are more two years at vita resta absconditaes cum cristo inde monastic life is It's not an honorable state in the church. Glorious way of life. It's an humble life. Shaded life. That doesn't mean a sad life. Life only in obscurity. That means life in the light of Christ.

[08:43]

Life in the light of Christ. The humbra mortis. It's not the death, it is just the similitude mortis. And the Father of the Church often explains this, verse 4 of Psalm 22, So Christ went down in the hell, in the similitude, in the umbra mortis, but he was the risen Christ. and the second part can express the element of resurrection. That's the glorious, the luminous shadow of Christ in which we have to live. Beginning I spoke on the mystery of the cross. But you see, this cross also was a tree and gave some shadow, and we have to live in the shadow of the cross of Christ. And so to share, as St. Benedict says at the end of the Pollock, also in the glorification of Christ. That's the real shadowed life, a luminous shadow, exactly as when the angel said to Mary, that was a shadow which was a source of secundity, not the darkness, but a luminous shadow.

[10:07]

That's monastic life, a shadow to partake in the mystery of the resurrection of Christ through the cross. That's the real, fundamental basis of this conventual humility. And the consequence is, of course, all the definitions I tried to give of the monks, because we have to live this vitality, this hidden life, because we are just sinners. We are solitaries. We are exiled, we are unlaborers, we are silent men, we are poor. Plangentis nandocentis, says Saint-Gilles. That was the ascetical aspect of this little message, to conclude. Conventual humility. And now there is aspect of communion, which must always be the complement of this aspect of solitude. Solitude in common, solitude in community, solitude in communion, solitude in union.

[11:15]

Friendship in solitude, we say. Friendship among solitaries. And this leads us to the second lesson perhaps we could draw from this retreat, namely unity in diversity. I think that perhaps a more specific problem for your community than for others. You have strong personalities. And I think that comes from the fact that your superior has a strong personality. And we often notice that the monastery becomes more or less the image of the superior. The superior has a strong personality, and therefore he respects your personality. And even he stimulates your personality.

[12:18]

He helps you to be yourself. And that's quite according to the rule when St. Benedict says that the rabbit has to adapt himself, and therefore to respect the other, and to help them to become always more themselves. growing souls and adapting himself to a variety of characters. One he must call, another's call, another's pursuer, according to each one's character and understanding. So there is not a uniformity in monastic life. No pattern. Everybody must be himself. Become what God wants him to be. Accomplish his vocation. Thus much... adjust and adapt himself to all and so but may even rejoice in the increase of a good flock increase does not mean only and probably not primarily increase in number but increase in value in personal riches of each of us so the superior has not to destroy to extinguish the personalities but to

[13:36]

develop them, and it does. I remember someday in a monastery, the grandfather of mine was saying to a monk of this monastery that he admired that there was in this monastery, in a certain monastery, a couple of very intelligent people. He said, oh, professor and different, those were so intelligent. And then the other answered, you know, in a monastery, it's sufficient that the abbot be intelligent. And that was quite wrong. The more intelligent all are, the better it, you see, for the real spiritual value, personal development of all the members of the community. But, of course, this has its dangers and its risks and its sufferings. As everything, you must always maintain that the higher is the reality, the greater is the risk. You know, already the story for Father de Lubac, one day speaking of doctrinal movement, told me the story of the boy to whom his father had given, as a token, a little box with pencils, you know, to write in colors and to paint.

[14:56]

He called that pencil colors in French, I don't know how to say. And on the box it was written, colors without danger. So probably no stain on the clothes, no... poison put it in the bow and so the boy began tried and but they didn't paint hopefully nice but so he went to the father he said father I would like to play on a paint please give me colors with danger and so everything of hers has its nature so these of personality in a community in which everybody having a strong personality thinks much, has many ideas, sees problems. That is its danger, you know. So that's not the reason to suppress the danger in suppressing the personality, but to see exactly in what may consist your particular asceticism in such a community.

[15:57]

When where everyone thinks and has ideas, it's more difficult. More difficult for the superior to govern, more difficult for each inferior to obey, and more difficult for the community to be united. Difficult but possible. Difficulties are made to be overgrown. And that's why we have to, and you have to, cultivate unity in diversity. And the result must be and is. But you must understand it and accept the sacrifice implies a richer unity, a higher unity. And how, particularly, to maintain that? Always the same two principles, detachment and charity. Detachment. It's always the day, the monastery. Detachment according to what Saint Benedict says in chapter 72, the good zeal.

[17:09]

No one following what he considers useful for himself, but rather would benefit another. That's a golden rule, always projecting ourselves in the other, in the community, in a higher unit, renouncing each one renouncing the full realization of one's ideas, even good ideas, to find the ideas, the good ideas which fit to the community. So we have to renounce even to good works, also to good ideas sometimes. Because if everybody has many good ideas, probably they will not coincide, it will be possible to realize all the good ideas, so we have to renounce some of them, to have the common good idea of monastic life we may live, you see.

[18:13]

And that implies an extremely deep renouncement. When ancient Arthur spoke of the martyrdom of the monks, that was not literature, that's a daily martyrdom, very humble, very small, but very deep, you know. There is a Christian somewhere in Pope Benedict XIV, I don't remember exactly the formula he gave, but it was obvious for him that it's sometimes more difficult to live the cenobitic life in this continuous daily life. Humble renouncement, see, that to finish immediately, gloriously, in martyrdom, see. We have not to choose, and we may hope that martyrdom will be given to us. But in the meantime, we have this small, contiguous, monastic martyrdom.

[19:16]

No one following what he considers useful for himself, but rather what benefits another. Detachment. And then charity. And here we have to rule also at the end of this chapter. Tender the charity of Brother Ruth chastity. Casti amore. That is, I think, in Latin, caritatem padamitatis, casto amore impendi. Well, I think, in the new critical edition, casti impendi. Casti has nothing to see with chastity. It is a word, a biblical way, and a patristic way of saying, well, casting. Mayabot, who is an excellent philologist, gave us a wonderful lecture on that. Long philological explanation, I don't remember. But just remember that. It's a patristic way of saying, as we have, there is a timor castus, you know, which is the impurity of art without...

[20:30]

so there is we have to have the charity perfectly love the rabbit with a sincere and humble charity and I must testify you do refer nothing whatever to Christ and may he bring us all together to life everlasting that eschatological charity this good zeal this charity is the beginning of what will be the good zeal in the eternal life. Our monastic charity, as everything monastic we do, is an anticipation of God, of the charity which is in God, which consists exactly in this mystery of unity in diversity. which is so... Each person depends upon the other.

[21:39]

In God, there is a dependence. Sometimes when it's important to justify our obedience and to explain sometimes to athletes who don't want to have a God in order not to depend upon us. But when you explain, even in God, there is a dependence. Each one consists in a relation to the other. He looks at... This is the mere fact of existing because another exists. That's the real dependence. That's not superiority. But one person cannot be, cannot exist if not loving, knowing and loving, being related to. That's what theologians call relationes. Relationes sunt oppositorum. Relation should suppose a certain opposition. which is not necessarily a contradiction, of course, not opposition in the bad one's meaning of the word, but a certain opposition. Each person consists in being related and in some way opposite to the other.

[22:40]

And that's what is trinity, you see. And that was this union, that charity in diversity. Each one being different, you see, different colors, but the same, you see, communicate, just sharing, sharing the love and and knowledge in the unity. Only to diversity. He said, speaking of it, the more there is diversity, the more there may be unity. And that's why the more there are developed personalities in a community, the more there must and may be unity, higher unity. And, of course, more difficult. But unity only founded in God. We have to rejoin in God. To rejoice above each other, you see. We can't establish a real unity at the level of human agreement.

[23:40]

We have to find our unity in God. And that's why we have to renounce. Because we have to find our unity in Christ. Refer nothing whatever to Christ. That's the only way to go to the perfect charity. He may bring us all together to life everlasting. And this charity, this unity in diversity exists. I noticed it, and I must say, when I answered to Father Merton, I told him that this exists. And so you have to thank God for that. You have to cultivate it. And sometimes when it's difficult, maybe heroic some days, just to renounce, just to agree with others, apart from each one's ideas, it's good to remember all this theological value of sharing the unity of Trinity.

[24:44]

The way of being obedient to each other, as St. Benedict says in a chapter, all the brothers have to be obedient to each other. As in the Trinity, each person is obedient as far as it is dependent from the other person, you see. That's perfect unity in charity, in renouncement. And so, as always, we shall find, at the same time, suffering in renouncement and joy in charity. Brother Gregory gave me here as a souvenir, this little image, with a motto of Leon Blois. Joy is the most infallible sign of the presence of God. And that could be the conclusion, joy. And that's what I just wrote in the guest book, Gaudium Domini Estu Attitudo Nostra. Our strength is the joy of the law.

[25:40]

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