|
|
|
|
|
|
THE term Monastic Reform is used by historians of Christian monasticism to describe recurring efforts at renewal that periodically implemented what were believed to be ancient and more authentic practices and insights. The Cluniacs, Camaldolese, Cistercians, and Trappists are examples of reform in the direction of greater strictness, emphasizing different ascetical practices, such as liturgical prayer, solitude, manual labor, and silence.
|
|
|
|
|
|
CLUNY |
CAMALDOLI |
CITEAUX |
DE RANCÉ |
PARADOXICALY, however, some of the most revered figures in monastic history, such as Antony of Egypt and Benedict of Nursia, instituted reform that led not so much to greater strictness but to an ideal of balance that could be described as gentleness.
THREE
FOCI
of MONASTIC
REFORM
1. Our Benedictine Monastic Heritage
2. The History of St. Andrew's Abbey
3. Our own personal salvation-history
|
|
REFORM
and
RENEWAL
|
1. ANTONY
the GREAT
as
MONASTIC
REFORMER
FROM CIVIC HERMITAGES into the DANGEROUS DESERT
NORM of GENTLE BALANCE
CONSECRATION of PLACE
2.
APOPHTHEGMATA
and EARLY
MONASTICISM
FROM
LIVING
EXAMPLES
OF HOLINESS
to
SAYINGS
and STORIES
of REVERED
TEACHERS
THE
DANGEROUS
MYTH
of A
“GOLDEN
AGE”
CONTRASTED
with
“OUR
OWN
DECADENT
TIMES”
3.
MONASTIC
RULES
FROM
SUCCINCT
WISDOM-SAYING
SUMMARIES
to DETAILED
RULES
of LIFE
FOR EXAMPLE: FROM CASSIANS Institutes to The Rule of The Master
4.
SAINT
BENEDICT as
MONASTIC
REFORMER
FROM ASCETICAL STRICTNESS to CHARITY THAT BUILDS SANCTITY
FROM COMPLEXITY to CLARITY/SIMPLICITY
RECOMMENDATION of BASIL
COMMUNITY OVER HERMITAGE
DIVINE LOVE AS FOUNDATIONAL BASIS
5.
MISSONARY
MONASTICISM
and REFORM
CONGREGATIONS
THE GIFT of the SACRAMENT of PENANCE and RECONCILIATION
MONASTIC FOUNDATIONS as CENTERS of CIVILIZATION
REFORM CONGREGATIONS, EACH WITH its OWN EMPHASIS and EXPERTISE
6.
CHINA
FROM BELGIUM to CHINA
FROM MISSION to CONTEMPLATION
FROM CONTEMPLATION to EDUCATION and PARISH MINISTRY
FROM ACTIVE APOSTOLATES to AN INTERFAITH CULTURAL INSTITUTE
7.
VALYERMO
FROM CHINA to CALIFORNIA
FROM the CITY to the DESERT
FROM a PRIORY to an ABBEY
FROM EUROPEAN to AMERICAN ELDERS
MONASTIC LIFE POST-FESTIVAL
The story of the Benedictines of Szechwan Province during the first half of the Twentieth Century can be divided into three epochs or phases encompassing two geographic locations. The three phases correspond to the first three superiors of the monastery, each of whom possessed a unique vision of how Benedictine monasticism could best serve the needs of the Catholic Church in China. The two geographic locations are: Xishan, near Shunqing, where the community was first established in 1929; and Chengdu, the capital of Szechwan Province where in 1942 the monks were compelled by the vicissitudes World War II to seek refuge
1: Contemplative Aspirations
1927-1933: Xihan, Prior Jehan Joliet
. Fr. Joliet envisioned a traditional monastic integration of serious scholarship with ordinary manual labor, reminiscent of the Abbey of Solesmes, where liturgical and historical scholarship are conducted in an alternating rhythm of liturgical prayer and manual or intellectual labor. Benedictine monasticism could thus model an interconnection, even a fusion, of roles that in Chinese society were kept rigidly apart through the distinction between educated, intellectual public servants (Mandarins) and a peasantry that performed manual labor.[1] Fr. Joliet’s vision of this fundamental orientation did not include significant external apostolates for the monks during the first years of the foundation, such as teaching or pastoral work, both of which were the norm at St. André but were very uncommon in the Solesmes Congregation.[2]
2. Active Ministry
1934-1942: Xishan, Priors Gabriel Roux and Raphael Vinciarelli
In the wake of Dom Joliet’s resignation and withdrawal Abbot Neve chose to visit his new daughter-house in person. He undertook a canonical visitation of Xishan in 1934 and stayed at the monastery for two months. With him he brought as reinforcements from St. Andre, Dom Raphael Vinciarelli and Dom Thaddeus Yong-An-Yuen. He appointed as prior of the Xishan community Dom Gabriel Roux, who had transferred his vow of stability from Solesmes to St. Andre, and whose vision of monastic life more closely approximated that of Abbot Neve. Prior Gabriel planned to transform the Xishan monastery into “a center of learning which would serve first the Nanchung area, and later the whole province of Szchewan.”[3] He envisioned an elementary school that would serve the local Catholic community, to be staffed by laypeople but financially supported by the Priory, as well as a school for oblates to be trained as monks, and a seminary that would serve the local diocese of Nanchong.
3. Intellectual Apostolate
1942-1952: Chengdu, Prior Raphael Vinciarelli
During these first “unofficial” years in Chengdu (the canonical transfer had not yet been approved) Prior Raphael conceived the idea for an “Institute for Advanced Chinese and Western Studies”. He envisaged the monastery becoming a spiritual crossroads where the rich multicultural environment of Chengdu would facilitate ecumenical and interfaith dialogue and research.
[1] This interpretation of Dom Joliet’s vision comes from Dom Vincent Martin, who joined the community at Xishan in 1936 and spent time with Fr. Joliet at the hermitage in Hopatachang shortly before Fr. Joliet’s death. Oral History Project: Fr. Vincent. Archives of Saint Andrew’s Abbey, Valyermo. California, 2008.
[2] Dom Joliet’s biographer, Fr. Henri Delcourt, believes that Joliet may have envisioned an educational apostolate of some sort as permissible, perhaps inevitable, at some later stage in the community’s evolution. H. Delcourt, Dom Jehan Joliet (1870-1937), un projet de monachisme Benedictin Chinois, Paris, Le Cerf, 1997.
[3] T. Yong An-Yuen., Chinese Adventures of an Indonesian Monk, §1.
This Webpage was created for a workshop held at Saint Andrew's Abbey, Valyermo, California in 2004
