Paul Giustiniani

Paolo Giustiniani
RULE OF THE HERMIT LIFE
Regula Vitae Eremiticae

Based in part on the Itlian translation by Don Aldo Visentin and the French translation by Dom Jean Leclercq, OSB. Extracts from Paolo Giustiniani, “Regula Vitae Eremiticae” ed. Abbey of San Benedetto, Seregno, 1996. Regola della vita eremitica : capitoli scelti della versione 1516 / beato Paolo Giustiniani ; traduzione di don Aldo Visentin ; presentazione di p. Albert Louis Lassus O.P.- 2.ed - Seregno : Abbazia San Benedetto, 1996 - 139 p. 141 c. di tav. III.; 19 cm. (In appendice: Eremi coronesi nel mondo.(Orizzonti monastici; 12)

[15] Avoid idleness and waste of time and acquire the good of quiet and stability

Just as outside the Christian faith there are no suitable means that can lead to eternal happiness, so within the immense variety of the faithful in Christ there are many kinds of life through which we can reach the heavenly homeland and the glory of true happiness.

Among all the rules of Christian life, there is no way of life that can more easily and better offer its followers the most sweet tranquility of the present life and the most desired happiness of the future than the institution of the true eremitic and solitary life.

This rule, in fact, more easily and more surely than any other, leads those who embrace it to the perpetual bliss of the heavenly kingdom, and at the same time, to those who walk uprightly therein, it bestows such tranquility in this earthly life that even here, as pilgrims in this world, they enjoy a considerable share of heavenly delights. For it most effectively distracts man from all those things that in earthly pilgrimages usually disturb and cloud the mind, and, by removing all occasions of sin, it almost compels him to devote himself to right occupations and good works, to the point of making him, a poor mortal, a being not so different from the angels and leading him, by a short journey, to angelic sublimity.

In past centuries, this singular way of life had great organizations, wonderful eulogists, and famous followers. Their teachings and exemplary lives shone upon the world with an almost divine light, much of which still shines in our miserable age. But while this practice of Christian life and religious profession was once held in the highest esteem, it has now fallen short of other Christian vocations; indeed, it seems that the hermit life, once so beautiful and noble, has almost disappeared.

In fact, there will be twenty or so inhabitants of Camaldoli who love the hermitage and who lead a true hermit's life according to the Rule of Saint Benedict and the legitimately approved Constitutions of eremitic life. All the others who, in any habit whatsoever, live in solitary places, or who in any way call themselves hermits , are in reality neither hermits nor true religious, because they have no religious vows, they practice no approved rule, they are not subject to anyone's teaching or obedience; all of which constitute the first necessary foundation of any form of religious life. Their miserable way of life is deplorable, since under the name of “hermits,” they militate without vows and without rules, not to please God, but only for their own convenience.

We, however, are not worthy followers of such a respectable way of life, nor are we in any way capable teachers of such an excellent path. However, desiring to please God as much as possible and with his help, and longing for our heavenly homeland, we have long since legitimately embraced the institution of this holy life. To the best of our ability, we have endeavored for many years to observe this discipline, almost abandoned by others; yet, if properly transmitted, it can lead to salvation many who embrace it.

Not trusting in our own strength, but relying on divine help, we are preparing to write the Rule of the Eremitical and Solitary Life, first of all for ourselves, then for the hermit brothers who are with us, and finally for all those who after us will wish to embrace this kind of life.

We exhort in the Lord all those who desire the sweetest tranquility of this present life and the richest bliss of the heavenly homeland to embrace the institute of the eremitic life for the love of God and with the firm purpose of persevering in it to the end.

Indeed, although there are in the holy Church many ways and different paths by which we can reach the Lord, nevertheless among them all there is none like the regular hermit life which can lead its followers directly and quickly, as on a journey without any danger, to the ineffable joy of the heavenly Jerusalem.

1. To foster in one’s heart, in a pure and free way, the holy vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience; to profess them vocally and observe them integrally throughout one’s life, according to the Rule of Saint Benedict and these hermit Constitutions.

2. Follow with all your might these hermit rules and the Rule of St. Benedict when it is not contrary to the hermit life, which requires more austere and perfect observances.

5. Avoid in any way, while respecting charity, frequenting or approaching people who live in the world or who have other ways of life.

8. Never cast off the yoke of holy obedience, truly sweet and light for those who willingly accept it, but carry it joyfully until death.

9. With the constant desire to reach the ever higher peak of this virtue, always obey your superiors, even in things in which the obligation of obedience is not explicitly stated.

10. Proceed with a sure step, made of good works, towards the high peaks of all virtues.

11. Guard the treasure of the most perfect humility all the more jealously the more one advances in perfection.

12. Avoid distractions of the mind and the allure and vehemence of worldly life.

13. Do not desire Holy Orders and the dignity of the priesthood and do not accept them except for the love of perfect obedience ^[1] .

14. To forcefully refuse government positions and any level of management, not out of fear of onerous commitment, but out of love of humility, as if it were a treacherous and stormy sea.

18. Go to church at Opus Dei not only out of habit or obligation, but rather driven by an interior desire to praise the Creator.

19. To celebrate the Divine Office according to monastic usage, with all reverence and composure, with great devotion, observing just and orderly ceremonies, without singing, but with a proper voice.

24. To devote oneself to holy prayer with tears and compunction of heart, if not continually, at least once a day.

25. To willingly devote oneself to the study of literature, especially of divine Scripture.

26. Advise one another and always learn from those who have the gift of counsel.

30. Always knowing yourself before God and His Angels, maintain purity of spirit and seriousness of manner everywhere.

31. Rejoice in rigorous abstinence, frequent fasting, and meager and common drink and food.

33. Do not loosen the observance of common life except out of true necessity or by order of the superior, but rather restrict it discreetly at the right time and in the appropriate way according to the examples of the ancient hermits.

34. When it is reasonable, that is, with the most delicate and weak people, with the elderly, with the sick and with those who are tired from work, reduce the rigor a little with the relief of a merciful discretion.

35. Love holy silence very much, because in it is found the cult of justice ^[2] and the progress of every virtue.

39. Be diligently wary of prolonged conversations, useless words, and the vice of gossip.

40. Never concern yourself too much with what happens in the world, such as wars or other secular events; never tell these things to anyone and do not willingly listen to them.

41. Through work, avoid idleness, preserve the virtue of humility, and keep the excessive demands of the body in check.

43. To be happy to live in the hermitage and to dwell continually in the cell and in it to maintain stability of spirit and body.

44. Never enter other people’s cells or even common laboratories without the prior’s permission, unless there is urgent need.

46. As far as possible, never reduce the rigor and style of the hermit’s life when, out of necessity or obedience, it is necessary to leave the hermitage.

51. To willingly use the hard hair shirt ^[5] and to be happy to wear poor clothes.

52. Consider the superior, whoever he may be, provided he is legitimately elected, as chosen by God himself.

53. Do not pass judgment on your superior, but rather be willing to accept his judgment.

55. If your superior is a virtuous man, imitate him in his good works; put his teachings into practice even if—God forbid—he does the opposite of what he says.

56. Obey your superior in everything with all spiritual joy, as if you were God.

60. Always feel responsible when you notice someone failing to meet their commitments or their progress slowing down.

61. To willingly accept and carry out without delay, when entrusted, a task of common utility.

64. Willingly accept the judgment and decision of the majority, even if someone thinks differently.

66. Accept fraternal correction with good will, even the harshest reprimands from superiors.

67. To carry out promptly and willingly the obedience imposed for any work and the penances for shortcomings.

68. Do not immediately and indifferently accept anyone who asks to enter the hermit life.

69. Always decide with the advice of all, with diligent examination and with legitimate approval who should be rejected and who should be accepted.

70. Offer those who are welcomed a fair and suitable place according to the established rules.

71. Occupy, in the various moments of common life, the place that belongs to each one.

73. Carry out the assignment received without hesitation. Do not evade any obedience under pretexts.

75. Do not send anyone out of the hermitage except for just utility and urgent necessity.

76. With solicitous care and great charity, ensure that the hermits, at the appropriate time and according to the needs of each, do not lack what is necessary for food and clothing.

77. Always have prudent discretion, compassionate care and attentive solicitude for the weak and the sick.

78. Welcome those who go to the hermitage with sweet words, with charitable attentions and with the fragrance of good example.

79. For those who are open hermits : be well disposed to serve the secluded hermits ^[7] .

80. For hermits who are secluded : pray more earnestly for those who are open .

81. For those who are not recluse : to venerate the perfection of reclusion and, as far as possible, imitate it.

82. And whoever has once arrived there: guard it diligently and be faithful in everything.

83. For hermits, both open and secluded : to observe all the rules of the hermit life, fervent with zeal for God.

86. Do not think that the perfection of religious life consists in these rules, but through them strive for perfection and the wisdom of the Gospel and the Apostles and above all always keep the bond of fraternal charity intact and perfect.

88. As the principal aim of all virtues, to be ever more fervently enkindled with all the forces of the intellect and the affections of the will in the knowledge and love of God the Creator, Best and Greatest.

Behold, these are the instruments of the holy art of hermitage. If the hermits make them their own and are capable of preserving them, they will receive as a reward the money of every day ^[8] , that is, eternal bliss and in the final judgment a fate equal to that of the Holy Founders of this religious life, if not through their own merits, certainly through the goodness of the Lord.

The workshop where we can accomplish these things without interruption and without hindrance is the sacred hermitage , a most lovable place of blissful solitude, and steadfast perseverance until death in the purpose of the hermit life.

Even if one who has not taken the vows observes poverty, chastity, and obedience perfectly, even if he seems to proceed along an arduous path, nevertheless he cannot acquire the richer merit of religious life. The Church teaches through her saints that all good works become better and more meritorious when offered to God by a vow, particularly a solemn public vow. To make a vow is an act of adoration, of the worship due to God alone, the worship most pleasing to Him, because it raises all subsequent actions to a sublime level of perfection. [Q2:155, tr. Leclercq]

By ‘contemplative life’ I do not mean the future life, the one true life of perfect contemplation in which we shall see God and enjoy perpetual bliss. Nor do I mean the spiritual ecstasy that is occasionally granted during this earthly life to certain souls of great perfection, a sort of vision of divine truths, bestowed as a special grace in a way that transcends the usual limitations of human nature. I refer instead to the manner of life of those who have renounced all temporal and spiritual activity in order to heed only God and themselves—sibi soli et Deo vacat. They strive, as constantly as human frailty permits, to reach God by reading holy books, by meditating on the eternal truths, and by persisting in prayer. By ‘active life’ I do not refer to the state of those who spend their time on the vanities of the world or on secular business, but I mean a way of life which makes room for the duties of taking care of other souls as well as various other activities that pious men may undertake for the honour and the service of religion. [Q1:41, tr. Leclercq]

[Inaccurate] History of The Origins of Cenobites and Hermits

Among the numerous forms of monastic life only two are admirable and pleasing to God : the cenobitic and the eremitic life. Both originated in the East in the blessed days of the early Fathers, the first founded by St. Anthony, the second by St. Paul. According to St. Jerome, St. Paul was the first to lead the solitary life in the desert, while Anthony was the first to train disciples in monastic life. As leader and originator of hermit life, Paul must be forever honoured as the first hermit. Anthony is acknowledged as founder of community life because he was the first to teach many monks to live together in a common dwelling, sharing the wherewithal for sustaining their human frailty. These monks, therefore, were called ‘cenobites’ which means ‘living in community.’ Anthony was likewise the first to receive the title of abbot, that is, father of many brothers living together.

In the West, the establishment of monastic life, as well as many other things related to Christian faith, occurred only much later. There too, however, as in the East, it claims two equally renowned and holy founders : Benedict and Romuald. For the holy Benedict is called patriarch of Western cenobites, not because that life was unknown previously, but because he was the first in the Western Church to draw up the rules of community life. And though he himself, as St. Gregory relates, adopted the hermit life at the beginning of his conversion when he spent three years in a little cave unknown to all men but the monk Romanus, yet later he changed to cenobitic life. As leader and founder of the cenobitic institution he wrote his rule of life for cenobites alone, disregarding other kinds of monks. And though he always preferred what St. Gregory called ‘the place of his cherished solitude’ yet for the benefit of the majority, he lived with the community as father and abbot of many monks at his Monastery of Monte Cassino until his happy and glorious departure to Christ.

In the meantime, while hermit life doubtless claimed adherents in the Western Church, yet for a time no one actually organized it. Its first founder was a man of wondrous holiness and admirable life, St. Romuald. He was the first to transmit to his contemporaries and to bequeath to future generations the constitutions and rules of eremitic life, not in written form, but by the example of his life and teaching. In this he imitated Christ, our Lord, who did not put into written form the ideal that He practised and taught, but left it to others to write down afterwards. St. Romuald’s biographer, St. Peter Damian, tells us that the holy Romuald first led a cenobitic life for three years in the then famous monastery of Classe in Ravenna. But when he became more eager for greater perfection he transferred to the hermit life and, like St. Paul the Hermit, he persevered in it faithfully until death.... He founded many hermitages in different regions not only in Italy but beyond the Alps and overseas. Countless men flocked to him from every direction and he trained them in the hermit life. Even within his own lifetime several of his disciples achieved the palm of martyrdom.

But if we seek the origin of these two modes of life in more remote antiquity, we find that in the Old Testament, Elias practised the solitary way of life, while his disciple, Eliseus, in company with many followers, organized community life. Whoever ponders on these incidents will understand that these two modes of monastic sanctity were not invented by men but were given to the human race by God, who governs all things wisely, who loves human beings supremely, and who even in Old Testament days providentially sent Elias and Eliseus to show these two modes of religious life to the men whom He wished to save. These are the two paths by which men may easily arrive at eternal bliss. Later when the Gospel had been proclaimed, the same two paths were more clearly and openly marked out in the East by St. Paul and St. Anthony, in the West by St. Benedict and St. Romuald. With their help men could journey on these two royal roads and thus safely reach the unutterable delights of the heavenly Jerusalem, the place prepared for those who fear and love God. And if we examine the origin and progress of these two modes of life, we can easily perceive that they are like two sisters showing a close resemblance, though wearing different clothing. Moreover, if we consider carefully not only their origin, but also their respective characteristics, it becomes evident that they are linked by such a close relationship and intimate bond that the fullness of cenobitic life is impossible without some participation in the hermit life, and the latter cannot be perfect without some form of support from the cenobites. It is undeniable that anyone who has any experience of either one or the other life knows that each needs the help of the other, and that both have many important features in common. For truly a monk—if we think of the real meaning of the word—is ‘one who lives in solitude.’ [Monk is from the Greek monachos, from monos: alone.] But the word is rightly applied to those who live together in a monastery, as well as to the hermits dwelling in the same solitude and following the same vocation. The word monastery has come to mean the home of a community living together. Both the hermit and the cenobite are known as solitaries because, in so far as human weakness permits, they withdraw from the exterior and the interior multitude, that is, they remove themselves externally from the throngs of other men whose lives differ from theirs. At the same time, by interior discipline and unceasing practice of virtue, they strive to expel from their soul the many passions and impulses disturbing it, in order that divine love alone might dwell in their hearts. Therefore, one who wishes to live without companions cannot he more truly called a monk on that account than one who, even though he shares the company of others as a way of more perfectly devoting himself to God alone, yet truly escapes both physically and spiritually from the common throngs. It matters not if he practises his way of life with many brothers in a monastery or if he dwells alone in a hermitage [. . . ]

When the cenobites learn of the rules of hermit life, they may either persevere humbly in their own life, while applying some elements of the eremitic ideal within their own monastery, or else they may transfer from the monastery to the hermitage, from their battle station in the ranks of the army to a post of single combat, from a perfect way of life to a more perfect way of life. This is not forbidden in any community rule nor by any pronouncement of St. Benedict. More than once he declared that those most ardent in the quest of perfection might well advance from the gentle initiation of cenobitic life to the robust maturity of the hermit’s way. Thus progress takes place from the good to the better, from one virtue to another, by a direct path of ascent towards the summit which all should crave. On the other hand when hermits read the Rule governing cenobites, they should blush for shame and amend their ways if they perceive that they, who are bound to the higher and nobler duties of the eremitic life, do not attain even the full perfection proper to the lower and easier precepts of cenobitic life. Thus they can see more clearly what utter purity of life and integral perfection of all virtue is expected of them, if already the discipline of cenobitic life is a perfection. To fall short of that ideal would be shameful on the part of those whose profession (if they are true hermits) binds them to a still stricter and more excellent discipline... .

But especially in our day it is important that the Rule and the practices of eremitic life be made known, in particular to those who seek to serve God.... For in other times all who decided to lead monastic life sought out solitary places. The Councils and the holy canons forbade monks to live in cities or even to enter them. But now the monks have come down from their lofty solitude and have mingled with the worldly throngs of city streets, either because they had to take refuge from the disturbances caused by wars or because they wished to help Christians in secular life to save their souls. They have exchanged the paradise of all delight for a wretched prison. But it has come about now that city-dwellers are more upset by wars than those inhabiting the deserts, while the conduct of monks no longer proves helpful in the salvation of laymen. ... It is time, therefore, for the monks to leave the monasteries located within city walls and to seek once more the greater freedom of remote solitudes. [RVE f.II-V, tr. Leclercq]

The Way the Hermit Serves his Neighbor - Prayer and Example

Woe to us if we provide no edification to those who expect it of us, if the perfection of our life does not encourage the hesitant and allure the seekers... . For men expect more from religious and priests than from laymen. Of those who have left all things and have ‘become eunuchs’ for the sake of the kingdom of heaven, of the followers of the Lord, much more is demanded than of those who try to practise the Christian faith in the midst of marriage and possessions. And we above all who, with God’s help, have embraced the solitary life which is so perfect, so sublime, so very austere, we must offer only what is great and only what is perfect. Woe to us if those who seek the Lord must blush for our conduct! Woe to us if our light does not shine before men so that, seeing our good works, they may glorify the Father in heaven ! Let us take care then that our good works and the radiance of our virtues, our existence before all nations on this peak of the Appennines, may force even those who do not wish to know God to confess that to serve Almighty God sincerely and in truth brings the only real happiness possible in this world [...]. [Q 4:345, tr. Leclercq]

The man most useful to the human race is the one who can help the greatest number of people in the most ways and for the longest time, not in the physical but in the spiritual sphere. He serves them not for this short life, but for the future life. He points out a shorter and a quicker path to the goal of all desire, eternal beatitude. Such is the case with the solitary. Matters of the soul and eternal life are more important than matters of the body and earthly life. Now there are three ways of helping men spiritually : by teaching and preaching, by the power of example, and by imploring divine help in prayer and in other meritorious works. Teaching is accomplished by word or by writing: these are similar, for what are words but transient documents and what are writings but persisting words ? Men can give good example by particular virtuous actions or by their whole manner of life. The third way of help is given by those who think of others in their vocal or mental prayers, or by those whose good works are so meritorious that for love of them, God grants His help to others besides themselves. Thus we read that God set Lot free for the love of Abraham, and did not do so because of Abraham’s request, but because of his holy life. All these means of help are available to the solitary, who, other things being equal, is more useful to the human race than men who are not solitary. [Q 4 bis:103, tr. Leclercq]

In the Credo we say each day that we believe in the Communion of Saints. What do these few words imply? That all prayers and all good deeds, all the merits of all the saints are common to all Christ’s good servants.... It is not I who thus explain these words, but the very learned Doctor, St. Thomas. Commenting on this article of the Creed, he says that all Christians are members of the body of which Jesus Christ is the head. And just as the food which the body receives is common to all the members, so the good accomplished in this body, of which the saints in heaven are also members, is common to all the other members, except those that break away from it of their own accord, or who are amputated by excommunication and thus are no longer able to receive its nourishment. [F1:175, tr. Leclercq]

Whoever has made the profession of eremitic life should take care to maintain poverty always and in all things. Not only should he show himself truly poor by owning absolutely nothing of his own, but above all, he should love holy and voluntary poverty.

Let him carefully avoid anything that, even in part, might undermine and violate the vow of poverty. First of all, let him possess nothing, absolutely nothing; let him not consider anything, however small or minimal, as his own or for his exclusive use, forever or for a time, even if it may be very useful or even necessary.

Let him clearly understand that all things which the superior has granted him the use of are common to all; and this not by fiction or by way of speaking, but in reality and by virtue of the inviolable authority of the Rule.

He must always remember that the things he uses, whether clothes or work tools, must be used in such a way as not to introduce, on his own initiative, any change in their form or use, but, as is rightly required for an object of common property, granted to him for personal use, he must diligently strive to preserve it, as far as possible, without any damage.

Always be ready, without bitterness or facile excuses, to return anything at the request of his superior; furthermore, thank him for allowing him to use a common object for so long. Humbly, be willing to apologize for having used, for so long and for his own convenience, an object that belongs to everyone and is perhaps more useful and necessary to someone else than to himself. He should also apologize if he has inadvertently damaged or soiled an object.

Let him never dare to call anything “his own” (cf. Acts 4:32). Furthermore, let him never give anything to anyone, nor receive anything from anyone without first informing his superior of the object, the person, and the reason, and without having obtained from him express permission to give or receive.

Even if someone receives something as a gift or loan from his own parents or siblings, he should immediately present and hand it over to the superior; and he should freely decide what should be done with it or to whom it should be given, as he does with all other things. Let no one be saddened or resentful if he has received a gift that was not given to him but to another brother, or made available to all for the common good. Furthermore, unless there is great pressing need, no one should be allowed to have for his own use those things he himself has brought or purchased, or received as gifts from his loved ones, lest he think that they were granted to him for this reason, considering himself as a sort of owner of them or with a right to use them more than others.

If he really needs these things, he should take them from the common ones, if the prior deems appropriate, so that all private property is completely eliminated.

One cannot promise, nor be promised with any word or gesture, even the smallest and most insignificant object, without the knowledge and permission of the superior.

The hermit brothers should avoid exchanging, promising, asking for, or receiving anything without first asking and obtaining permission from their superior.

Furthermore, professed and novices who have received the probationary habit may not carry or use money while they live in the hermitage; this must be deposited and kept with the superior or cellarer.

Whoever leaves the hermitage should take at that very hour what is necessary for the journey and for the business at hand. While outside the hermitage, it is not forbidden to use or carry money; however, when in a group, this is permitted only to one person, who acts on behalf of the others. Upon returning to the hermitage, if they have money, they should immediately hand it over to the superior or cellarer before even entering their cell.

The hermit should have nothing superfluous in his cell; but he should return any things he does not actually use, even if they were given to him. He should not keep with him for long periods clothing, books, or tools of any kind, nor anything else that is not necessary for the time being.

Let there not be in the hermit’s cell anything of any value, anything precious, or anything that might serve more sensual pleasure than any necessary use, but only those things that are truly necessary; and let each one ensure that these are very simple and suited to voluntary poverty and the purity of a hermit.

Therefore, the hermit father, together with the cellarer or some other hermit brother, acting as scrutineer, should visit the cells frequently, not superficially but with great diligence, in the absence of those concerned. If he deems anything superfluous or inconsistent with holy poverty, he should not hesitate to remove it. However, he himself should strive to be poorer than the others in everything.

No one should have a private key except the cellarer. Indeed, nothing should be locked that is common to all and is granted to individuals for use at the superior’s discretion.

Anyone who changes cell is not permitted in any way to transfer vases, nor iron tools, nor paintings, nor anything else, except the clothes that have been given to him for use, the books he actually uses, and the tools of special art, if he has them, so that the things one uses in cell are considered to belong to the earth rather than to the person.

Finally, let each one strive, for the love of holy poverty, not only to enjoy the extreme simplicity of the things whose use human frailty requires, but also to eliminate from his heart every desire to possess and every attachment to the things he uses, so as to be truly an observer of the eremitic life according to the apostolic discipline; that is, to be in this world as if he were not there and to use the things of this world as if he did not use them ^[9] .

In short, even if one notices that many things are lacking, let absolutely no one, not even the prior of the place himself, who is the one who should be most concerned, be excessively concerned about those things which are necessary for human life, and let no one think in his heart: What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or what shall we wear? But let all concern be placed before God, faithfully practicing what is said by the mouth of the Truth: Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well ^[10] .

Our hidden self-love brings forth all manner of illusions: ecstasies, visions revelations, prophecies, abstinences impossible to human strength, the experience of Christ’s sufferings such as the wound on the side or the stigmata, knowledge acquired without study, speaking in strange languages, the desire to be damned for the love of Christ, extraordinary seeking of humiliation, sublime confessions, fasting from all food except the Blessed Eucharist, vigils beyond human strength, unduly prolonged meditations, knowledge of others’ secret thoughts, miracles, and cures. All these marvels are, in some instances, nothing but the work of him who said—and would like to induce us to say : ‘I shall be like God, and I shall do what He does.’ . . .

I think that these saints inspired by Lucifer are much more numerous, or rather much better known and more admired by the world, than the true saints, who do nothing in order to he known by the world, but who prefer to remain hidden. Christ’s true servants love God totally and themselves not at all. So sheltered are they by humility that they are known to God only, not to men. Of course we must not condemn all visions and marvels: some are authentic. But the touchstone that can test them is always humility, a participation in the humility of Jesus.

Christ is the model of absolute humility. It can be shown that Christ, in His human nature, practised the greatest possible spiritual humility. First, because He did not claim as His own either His divine being or His heavenly doctrine or His miraculous power. Nor did He wish that men should attribute these privileges to Him, for He knew and He acknowledged that everything came to Him from the Father. He sought not His own glory but the glory of His Father. The second proof of Christ’s humility is that He who was equal to the Father voluntarily took on the form of a slave. In all things except sin, He became united to that human nature which was in subjection to the devil. He, who was God, became man and assumed a true human nature. Finally, He did even more than assume human nature and human flesh: in His deep humility He also voluntarily accepted the weakness of that nature, though He could have been born exempt from all frailty. He willed to appear in the flesh—in the flesh that is weak and subject to pain. Thus did He give us the true norm of perfect humility.

So it is that the key to humility is likewise the whole secret of the hermit life : God alone. Jesus Christ, as man, was perfectly humble because He did not love Himself, but adored and loved God in utter simplicity. He was not glorified in Himself, but in God alone. He humbled Himself in order that He might contemplate only His Father’s glory : therein lay His only pleasure. By the light of Christ, therefore, we can define spiritual humility : just as pride of the spirit (the pride of Lucifer and of those who accept his domination) consists of self-love and self-admiration, accompanied by satisfaction with this love and admiration, so also humility means loving God, contemplating God, adoring God, seeking satisfaction in Him and Him alone. Genuine, solid humility is nothing but this pure love of God in utter simplicity. Where such love dwells, no place remains for self-love. [Q IV bis: 114^r, tr. Leclercq]

“he wrote at length about this “annihilation of the soul” referred to in a verse of the Psalms : ad nihilum redactus sum et nescivi. Later he himself made an outline of that fervent rhapsody: He distinguishes four kinds of annihilation, two that are evil, two that are good. By the first, the soul is “reduced to nought” but “does not know it” when it is in a state of sin but is not aware of its own wretchedness and has no desire to escape from it. By the second, the soul is “reduced to nought” but is aware of its state. It is still in sin but by God’s grace it knows it and is beginning at least to wish to recuperate. By the third annihilation, the soul is “reduced to nothingness” and knows it. Filled with burning love of God, it no longer lives in itself, but in God alone, or rather God lives in it and it knows itself only in God. Finally, the soul is “reduced to utter nothingness” and “it does not know it,” for its vehement love of God so transforms it in God that it no longer loves self for self, nor self in God, nor God in self, but only God in God. No longer does it know self in self nor in God. No longer does it know God in self, but only God in God.” [“I was reduced to nought, and I did not know it.” This text is the first of six “Argumentations” which altogether constitute the book entitled Secretum meum mihi o dell’ arnor Dio (ed. Frascati, 1941), pp. 19, 45-53.]

And how can it be, my soul, that you become nothing, that you now are nothing in yourself, that God alone is in you, or rather, you are in God ? This happens only by the power of that sacrament, of which I was the unworthy minister a short time ago. Oh, how precious a treasure is the doctrine that brings us this truth : when we eat food for the body, we are not transformed into it, but it is transformed into us; on the contrary, when we approach the divine table of the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, we eat food that is not transformed into us, but which transforms us into itself. Then we depart from ourselves and we begin to exist in God.” [Secretum meum. Schema o breve summa o argumento, p. 50, tr. Leclercq]

Happy is the soul that attains self-annihilation, and being totally converted to God, lives not in itself, but in Christ, wholly absorbed in His love. Happier still is the soul that is consumed in such a blazing fire of love that it no longer possesses either itself or Christ, no longer even lives in Christ, but lives only because Christ lives in it. Vivo ego, jam non ego, vivit vero in me Christus.”[ibid. p. 54, tr. Leclercq]

God is love and if the soul dwells in love, God is in it and it is in His Love, so that God becomes the all in all.” To help us glimpse how the soul can thus be lost in God, be transformed in Him, without, however, losing its own identity, the author introduces another series of distinctions. In the first place, the human soul has two kinds of life : essential life, received from God who is life and the source of all life; the life of love, also received from God Who is love and the source of all love. Just as essential life comprises three degrees, so there are three stages of the soul’s life of love. In its essence, the soul does not subsist in itself but in God, from Whom it receives its being; similarly the soul that loves exists not in itself, but in God, for it has no self-love. Likewise the soul lives neither in itself nor in God, for by itself it neither exists nor has in itself the life by which it lives in God: rather, God alone lives in it, for it lives only in so far as God, Who is life, gives Himself to it. Thus God lives in the soul; the soul does not live in God. On a yet higher level of love it can be said that the soul that has attained God no longer lives either in itself nor in God; it no longer loves itself in itself nor in God; it loves God in itself. Finally, when God, the life and the source of all life, gives Himself to the soul and to living creatures, He does not live in the creatures but in Himself. While His being is supremely One, yet according to our way of understanding, the being of God in Himself is more perfect than that which He has in His creatures. Similarly, the soul that reaches the ultimate love no longer lives in itself nor does it live in God, nor does God live in it. That is because it does not love itself in itself nor in God; it does not love God in itself; it loves God alone—not God in the soul, but God in God. God is loved not for the sake of self, but only for His own sake, in the utter perfection of His being. The soul does not live in itself nor does it live in God, nor does God live in it : God alone lives in God. The soul loves neither itself in itself nor itself in God, nor even God in itself, but loves only God in God. This is the perfection of love: solo Dio in Dio. [Schema, ibid. p. 20; “Argumentation” III, pp. 61-66, tr. Leclercq]

There are spiritual men who are considered saints and who rejoice in the progress of their Order or their monastery, but who in dealing with their neighbours are not exactly displeased by the neighbours’ progress—for that would he sinful—but they are less pleased by it than by what concerns them personally. If they examine their attitude they will realize that they desire their own progress or that of their monastery more than they desire God’s glory : they do not love God in Himself.

The soul which rejoices in God and God alone is willing to be without any consolation. If its love of God could increase on condition that it be cut off from all sensible devotion, spiritual tranquillity, or joy—even on condition that it be deprived of all hope of such gifts in this life or the next—it would gladly agree to such conditions. It loves God no less when feeling no consolation or sensible devotion. The love of God remains the same whether or not He grants such gifts.’ Could we even suppose a possibility of adding to God’s glory by losing Him, rather than lessening His glory by possessing Him, then the soul consumed with love would prefer its own damnation for the sake of even the slightest increase of divine glory. [ibid. pp. 61-62, tr. Leclercq]

Lord, I know that what I have tried to say, what You have enabled me to see and feel to some degree, is truly ineffable, unfathomable.... But grant, Lord, that what I cannot understand intellectually nor express in writing, I may taste and enjoy by experience.... Grant that I may be united to You in a way that the mind cannot grasp nor the pen express, that I may be so totally absorbed in You that I may love You and rejoice in You. I do not ask that Your joy may enter my being, but rather that I, like the faithful servant, may enter into that joy, that I may wholly lose myself, be annihilated to myself and taste Your love in a manner beyond all telling or understanding. [ibid. pp. 52-53, tr. Leclercq]

It is not surprising that my heart finds deep content and that my face shines bright with joy, for many times I sense and hear and greet the loved one who removes all pain.

The Lord whose love I never wish to leave calls me and brings me to His very Self. His joy so thrills in every vein that even the memory of my own self fades.

When my heart welcomes the Almighty and dear guest, I cannot hide His visit as I wish. The glory of His presence shines even on my face.

This mighty Lord has not the habit of arriving in disguise to woo a lowly slave like me. How chaste our love is ! How beautiful and full of joy [F II:115b , tr. Leclercq]

After the uninterrupted observance of poverty, chastity, and obedience, necessary for hermits as for all religious, nothing is more important to them than the pursuit of solitude. Indeed, the terms hermit and solitary derive from the words hermitage and solitude, so it is inaccurate to call hermits those who do not truly love and seek solitude.

Therefore, those who embrace this way of life, for no reason and under no circumstances, however reasonable, should live in cities or even near them, nor in castles or monasteries, as all monks of old apparently did. Nor should they occupy places near busy roads or in places close to cultivated fields; but they should live in separate cells, at least three or two miles from cities and as far away as possible from human homes.

When building hermit cells, they should always choose uncultivated, horrid, solitary, deserted, and difficult-to-reach places; on rugged mountaintops, in hidden woodland areas, in unknown caves, in caverns of the earth, or in solitudes with vast horizons.

They should take diligent care not to encourage the gathering of people in those places for any reason, and under the pretext of devotion or spiritual benefit. Indeed, where women are permitted or men are tolerated, it is not possible to properly maintain the institution of the hermit life.

To preserve solitude, let them take all care and diligence to avoid any familiarity with strangers and any association with worldly people, unless required by the needs of human life and the necessary charity toward others. Therefore, never or very rarely—that is, only when the necessary respect for charity requires it or the scandal of simple people cannot otherwise be avoided—let food or drink be given, or let overnight stay be permitted, to the inhabitants of nearby villages, who, precisely because of their proximity, usually frequent the hermits’ places more. It is easy for them to either bring food with them for their meals or return home.

Concerning these things, when they must be denied or permitted, the provident discretion of the superior should always intervene, with the advice of some older brother, taking the greatest care that, through an excessive desire to respect solitude, one never fails to fulfill the necessary duties of charity; or, on the contrary, concerned to demonstrate a greater charity than is required, one does not fail to maintain the quiet and necessary solitude of hermits.

No guest, however noble or distinguished, secular or religious, even if a relative of the hermits, or even a benefactor or blood relative, is to be permitted to eat, drink, sleep, or remain for long in any of the hermits’ cells, even if empty. An exception to this rule is made when there is an unavoidable necessity, which, even if not contemplated by law, is in itself a law. Even if the place is solitary, there must be a cell or cells to accommodate religious and honest guests. Such buildings should never be adjacent to the hermits’ cells, but set apart; they should be built in that part of the hermitage closest to the entrance, distant from the church and the hermits’ cells as far as an arrow’s path can go, but within two hundred meters. All this is done so that, due to excessive proximity, the commotion of arriving or departing guests does not disrupt the tranquility or disturb the peace of the hermits in the church or in their cells. On the other hand, because of the excessive distance, it will not become burdensome for the superior and the other hermits, when the service of the guest requires it, to go there and then return to their cell. Instead, it will be easy to come and go, even several times a day. Indeed, in this way they will not be far from their cells and at the same time will not fail in the duties that hospitality requires.

Near the guest rooms there should be a stable for the guests’ beasts of burden and for the hermitage’s needs. This prevents anyone sitting on the beasts of burden or even the beasts themselves from entering the hermitage, that is, the area where the hermits’ cells and the church are located, unless there is an extreme necessity.

The cells of hermits should not be built like those of cenobites, within the cloister or united under a single roof, but they should be built separate and somewhat distant from each other and from the common oratory, scattered here and there within the hermitage, so that a person staying in the cell can freely read, chant psalms, pray aloud or with groans, or do other similar things, if he prefers, without being heard by others.

Other common rooms, useful and necessary for hermits, such as the sacristy, chapter house, library, common kitchen, refectory, the room where grain, bread, wine, oil, vegetables, fruit, and other things necessary for human life are stored, or rooms for other uses, such as those in which the hermits cut their hair or wash their clothes, or those intended for the sick, may be built together, that is, in a single building, with the same roof, or next to the church, or in another part of the hermitage, depending on the location of the place and the judgment of the majority of the hermits. However, care must always be taken that, while in church chanting, praying, or celebrating the divine mysteries, or while in bed in the sick’s cell, the brothers are not disturbed by any inappropriate noise from nearby work rooms.

In the construction of both the cells of hermits and the common work rooms, care must be taken not to erect refectories or the tristega ^[11] above them. If it is necessary to build some room underground, which is frequent in mountainous places, it is not at all prohibited.

And if it happens that they have to live in a place where there are cloisters, joined cells, and refectories, as the cenobites use, the hermits should not use them for living at all, but should see to it that these buildings are adapted as common workrooms; but the refectories on the upper floors, unless serious damage is caused to the building, are to be demolished.

Hermits, in fact, are not suited to live in multi-story buildings, but rather in modest cottages. The area of the hermitage where the church, the hermits’ cells, and the workrooms are located should not be open and easily accessible. Depending on the location and possibilities, it should be enclosed by a ditch or trench, or by hedges or even a wall, so that entry and exit are possible through a single door.

As regards the place where the hermitage itself is located, if there are woods, let the number of trees be preserved and increased; if, however, there are none at all, let great care be taken to afforest it, both for the decorum and the character of the solitude, and especially to have wood for the fire, so necessary for hermits ^[12] . The hermits themselves, however, should willingly remain in the hermitage for the love of the most delightful solitude, rich in happiness for consecrated souls. Let them rarely go out of the hermitage, only when urgent need or pious utility requires it. And never, however, let them go out without the permission of the superior and his blessing.

When going out, they should try to take care of several errands at the same time so as not to be forced to go out more frequently, that is, each time for the same errand.

Outside the hermitage, if they plan to return during the day, they should not take food without a special blessing from the superior. In case of true necessity, as the cenobites did, they should return to the hermitage fasting. However, if they think they will be forced to eat and drink outside, after notifying the superior and obtaining his permission, they should carry with them sufficient food for the journey and should prefer to take it outside, along the road, in a quiet place, rather than entering public places belonging to seculars or private individuals, or even religious convents, for this necessity.

When I am at the hermitage, on the days and at the hours consecrated to silence, no one is to enter the cell of any brother, nor any common work room, without special permission from the prior.

Without the permission of the superior, who, moreover, rarely has to grant it, anyone may never enter a cell other than his own or any common work area, except the one entrusted to him. And he must never allow anyone else to enter his cell. Thus, each man must occupy his own cell, and under no circumstances should two or more people be allowed to eat or sleep in the same cell.

If the brothers do not observe these rules in full, even if they live in hermitage and solitary cells, they will never be able to be solitary. Above all, they must guard their solitude, lest it be taken away from them by outsiders; but they themselves will take it away from one another, and it will have been of no avail to have renounced social life and city life, if they do not diligently guard against too frequent contact with their brothers; for the more easily such contact occurs, the more perniciously it destroys all solitude.

In the choir we remember that the monk’s function is to weep for himself and for the world; we do not sing, except very rarely: we should not seek to please men. [F+ 145, tr. Leclercq]

You must not take pleasure in the pomp of processions. [RVE f. 42, tr. Leclercq]

A single bell will announce the time for the Divine Office. In cities the superfluous chiming of sets of several different bells may serve a good purpose by stirring up the people’s piety and by summoning crowds: the cenobites, therefore, tolerate them. But they are quite contrary to eremitic serenity and purity. [RVE f. 61, tr. Leclercq]

In accord with tradition, the hermits never sing : they intone the Divine Office in plain chant with voices neither too low nor too high nor too loud, but devoutly, and yet with virile joy. The hermit’s function is not to sing and exult, but to weep and to do penance. [RVE f. 67^v, tr. Leclercq]

The chant must be calm: neither too slow nor too quick. We should avoid haste and confusion in order to pronounce the words distinctly and clearly. One choir must never begin before the other has finished. Make the pause in the middle of each verse.... On solemn feasts the chant should be slower and more clear, and also the night Office during Winter, taking advantage of the longer nights. [RVE f. 68, tr. Leclercq]

We must reduce the number of saints’ feasts to prevent the monotony of saying the same psalms all year long. Two principles must govern the assignment of Scriptural texts in the liturgy: the whole Bible should he read each year and the whole Psalter should be recited in common each week. [RVE f. 70^r-71, tr. Leclercq]

Rejoice each day in the private recitation of Psalms. [RVE f. 42^r, tr. Leclercq]

Recite these Psalms in a way that will bring some fruit of piety or of spiritual understanding. [Q III: 52, tr. Leclercq]

I greatly desire a commentary on Psalm 144 which in Hebrew is alphabetic. Study it in the Hebrew so that you can enlighten me. I seem to recall that Pico de la Mirandola explained it, but I do not have his books here. [Q IV: 459, tr. Leclercq]

In reciting the Psalms, I would like you, if possible, to rein in your spirited intellect and turn aside for a while from all mystical or allegorical senses to consider purely and simply the literal meaning, that is, what our friend David meant at the moment he composed the Psalms. Then you will see how incomparably greater Scripture is than any poet or philosopher. David is truly a great philosopher, as he contemplates in his Psalms God’s lofty mysteries, the creatures of His making, and the qualities of our souls. [F I: 49, tr. Leclercq]

Now that you have a tutor to teach you Hebrew, have him read you the Psalms, the most obscure part of Holy Scripture, but also the most useful, the most pleasing, the most necessary for the interpretation of all the rest of the Bible. Study the Psalms from the Hebrew, if not for your own sake, then in order to help me. If you devote intense effort to it at first, you will be spared tedious difficulties later on. Of course we have St. Jerome’s Psalter secundum hebraicam veritatem, according to the truth of the Hebrews, but I think that a word for word study of the original can clarify a great deal....

How sweet it is to read the Psalms ! It is not tiresome, but most delightful. What could I do that would please me more ? In the Psalms I praise and glorify my Creator; I invoke, honour, and entreat Him; in the Psalms I thank Him and bless Him; in the Psalms I confess my sins and implore mercy; in the Psalms I consider the vanity of the world and the falsity of all things; in the Psalms I see myself mirrored and I understand the frailty of life, the paltry value of this mortal body, the danger of being carried far from God if the soul submits to the tyranny of the senses. The Psalms prove how noble the soul is if it profits by true self-knowledge instead of sinking to the level of the animals. And finally, in the Psalms I glimpse, in so far as the countless defects of my eyes permit, the infinite power, wisdom, and goodness of God.. .. If men studied the Psalter as eagerly as they study the sonnets of Petrarch or the Odes of Horace, they would find far more poetic charm in them—to say nothing of higher qualities—than in Horace. Only those who have never given any close attention to the Psalms could say otherwise, just as there are people who understand nothing of Petrarch and therefore judge that his poetry is nonsense (which it really is ! ). But for me the Psalms are my only sonnets, my only odes !

I learn them by heart so that I can say them without having to hold the book. The literal sense by itself pleases me so well, I find in them thought so high and so divine that I have not yet desired to look up the commentaries that find spiritual and allegorical interpretations. Perhaps some day I shall study them thoroughly, but for the time being I am satisfied with the literal sense. There I perceive what intense zeal filled David’s heart and how far advanced he was in self-knowledge and self-contempt, that is, contempt of the mortal part of his being. This, in turn, brought him true knowledge and contempt of the world. Often I muse: how mistaken are those who honor Homer among the Greeks, Virgil among the Romans, or Petrarch amongst us more than David, that most admirable Jew who has given us all the exquisite loveliness of poetry, all the nobility and subtility of true philosophy, all the tender feelings of a man enamoured of true, eternal, heavenly beauty. We can, moreover, find in the Psalms such exact prophecies of Jesus Christ that we might well believe that some of them were composed after, rather than before, His death, so explicitly does the literal sense refer to Him. I love to learn the Psalms by heart so that I can say them without effort, unhindered by illness or any other obstacle. [F I: 40, tr. Leclercq]

David deserves our admiration because he experienced in advance all the sentiments of a Christian and especially the hermit’s attitude of detachment from the world and yearning for God.¹⁷ We should find Psalm 118 particularly thrilling, for it contains the sublime mysteries of Christ and all the doctrine necessary for our perfection. [Q I: 51, tr. Leclercq]

A love of the Psalms is the mark of a true monk. Woe to those who scorn them ! Vae illis qui psalmos spernunt!¹⁹ On the other hand, those who admire them and receive them willingly find spiritual satisfaction in them. “The main concern of monks should be to bemoan their sins, to praise God for His infinite mercy towards them, and, with hearts overflowing with love, to cling to Jesus who hangs naked and bleeding on the Cross. It follows, therefore, that no physical or spiritual occupation can offer them greater satisfaction than the recitation of the Psalter. In the Psalms they can confess their sins and ask God’s pardon, often in words so touching that the soul is roused to deep emotion. In the Psalms they praise and glorify our eternal Creator and Redeemer, perhaps more wonderfully than in any other part of Scripture. [F I: 155, tr. Leclercq]

We may well doubt whether any spiritual exercise can please the man who is bored by the Psalter. So suited is psalm-reading to monks that in former times when they made their profession they used to be urged to keep the Psalms always in their hands or on their lips. This meant that whenever a monk was free of other duties, the best thing he could do was to read the Psalms.... Nothing is more useful to monks, who in solitude and silence desire always to meditate, frequently to pray, and at times to attain contemplation. [Q IV: 257, tr. Leclercq]

[Rule of 1520] All who know how to read will read Holy Scripture at least once a day...

But it is useless to read unless one also meditates on what is read with all possible devotion. Therefore, during the times of silence each one shall reflect upon what he has read while he is in his cell or at work. During the time when silence is broken to allow the brothers the recreation of fraternal conversation, they will speak of their reading. So they will avoid idle words and will make progress in the understanding of Scripture. But without God’s help, reading and meditation would be of no avail, just as all other observances would be likewise impossible. We must, therefore, give first place to mental prayer : for the main characteristic of a hermit is that he spends his time in prayer. While our fathers have not assigned any definite time of the day or night for mental prayer—as is done in other religious congregations—they meant thereby to indicate that continual prayer is as necessary to the spiritual life as breathing is to physical life. And so the hermits, whenever they have no other assigned task, should always pray. Each one will choose the time best suited to him when he will remain motionless in mental prayer for at least half an hour, either all at once or divided into shorter periods. Even if at times his distracted mind cannot concentrate on prayer, he must not fail to devote to meditation the time that has been appointed, kneeling before a picture of Christ or taking up whatever other position helps devotion. He may be assured that the time he spends thus will be counted as prayer and if he perseveres, he will soon, with God’s help, be able to meditate with delight.

Those who come to the hermitage from secular life or from a monastery must be trained to mental prayer before all else, for if a man who has been properly instructed does not then devote at least half an hour daily to mental prayer, he cannot persevere in our life. It is as impossible to grow spiritually without mental prayer as it is to grow physically without food. Mental prayer truly strengthens the mind for study and reflection, while the latter in turn foster mental prayer. The three activities are mutually dependent and mutually helpful. A man is a hermit in name only if he does not devote himself daily to reading, to meditation, and to mental prayer.’ [RVE f. 83-83v, tr. Leclercq]

Each of these three forms of prayer has its own characteristic feature: studiosa lectio, ordinata meditatio, devota oratio—careful reading, well-ordered meditation, devout speech. Reading must be attentive, not superficial. Meditation is an effort to concentrate, requiring that the mind should not wander but should fix its attention on very specific dogmatic and moral considerations. Mental prayer proceeds from meditation and takes the form of a direct conversation with God and inspired by God. For here again the only master is the Lord. No book can teach us to speak to Him : only the Holy Spirit can suggest how we should adore God and lament our sins. We must remain supple to the influence of the Spirit. We must choose the time when the spirit is most tranquil and free;² then grace will do the rest. At times there will even be granted to us the gift of contemplation. The rhythm of this process, however, varies for each soul and according to the God-given talents of each. Happy are those who need but a brief reading and short meditations in order to attain a prolonged state of mental prayer! Happy are those who then become rapt in contemplation, that state proper to the angels and the blessed in heaven, but sometimes granted by Almighty God to those who, though possessing a human body, practise a perfection verging on that of the angels ! Their nature is then raised beyond its own powers. Their spirit enjoys the delights of God. Happy are those whose nature sometimes suffers such violence! Happy are those who experience such rapture for a longer time, if indeed it can last long. [F VIII:2; cf also G IV bis 173, tr. Leclercq]

Why is it that the soul, though experiencing great joy in mental prayer, finds it so difficult to persevere in it, while the contrary is true of other actions ?”

I have often wondered why it is that the pleasure we remember experiencing in certain agreeable activities enables us to repeat them with ease and joy, while, in spite of the incomparably greater pleasure tasted in mental prayer, the soul returns to it with difficulty and trouble, almost with reluctance. Those who, at least once, have derived great pleasure from sensual passion, from the delights of the table, from lovely music, or enthralling spectacles, are attracted to these experiences by the memory of the pleasure they felt. But though our soul feels such great and intense pleasure in mental prayer, once it has advanced in God’s friendship to a point where it begins to taste some part of divine reality, yet we continue to feel a repugnance that is both physical and spiritual on returning to prayer, and that occurs even ìfter we have felt these delights many times.

I, for one, can testify that I enjoy the pleasure of eating especially certain foods, so much that even without the stimulus of hunger or the serving of special foods, I begin to eat so naturally and easily that I hardly notice what I am doing or pay any particular attention. But I have to do violence to myself, so hard do I find it to return to mental prayer, even though, thanks to our dear Lord Jesus Christ, the delights I have tasted therein more than once infinitely surpass all else that I have known. Indeed I do not ask this question through mere curiosity but in order to know and eliminate the reason that makes me postpone my mental prayer. I would like to be able to return to it as easily as I do the sensual acts that give me pleasure. As I pondered the question, several reasons have occurred to my mind. The first is that the soul is a noble substance, or in other words, a delicate and subtle substance, while the body is a common substance, of coarse and hard matter. It is not surprising, therefore, that the soul receives the impressions of the body more easily than the body those of the soul. Sensual pleasures arise in the body and proceed to the soul, which easily consents to them because it is instantly affected by them: hence its feeling of satisfaction when the body leads it towards some pleasure. On the contrary, the pleasure of mental prayer first affects the spirit, the part of the soul farthest removed from the body. Thus when the soul is stirred by the joy it has known in mental prayer and wishes to return to it, the body, which did not taste that pleasure, or at least did not retain the memory of it, refuses its consent to the soul. For we assent easily to all actions in which the body and the soul act with common consent. That doubtless explains why it is so easy to return to physical pleasures, where the soul offers no resistance to the body, but it is hard to return to the spiritual joy of mental prayer, where the body rebels against the soul. That very resistance is the cause of the difficulty.

Similarly, for instance, when we go walking : we find it easy to descend a mountain, because in this action the heavy nature of the body is in agreement with the soul’s desire. But if, on the contrary, we wish to climb the mountain, the body’s heavy nature feels such repugnance that the soul must do violence not only to the body but to itself because of its own reluctance to force the body. The same is true of mental prayer : the struggle the soul must undertake against the body is so unpleasant to both body and soul that both agree to flee from the joy of mental prayer. In like manner a man who well knows that a bitter medicine will restore his health, consents to take it, but only with the greatest repugnance, for the bitterness of the medicine repels not only the body but also the soul that is affected by the distaste our senses experience. So with mental prayer : while the soul, attracted by the memory of its joy, longs to return to it, nevertheless, because this return is an assault on the body, a separation of body and soul, a kind of death, the soul keenly feels this violence against the body. As its displeasure preceding mental prayer is stronger than its memory of the joy therein, it resists its own impulse. In order to avoid the displeasure that precedes mental prayer, it no longer strives to attain the pleasure to be experienced during the actual time of mental prayer.

The contrary is also true : at times we refrain from immediate pleasure because of the distress that will result. Thus a man who rubs a wound that is almost healed feels great relief, but as he knows that an increase of pain will result if he reopens the wound permanently, he refrains from rubbing it. Many persons who would like to eat honey because it is sweet, find that it causes them stomach pains and therefore they deprive themselves of present pleasure because of future pain. So before mental prayer the prospect of a kind of separation of soul and body distresses the body, and through it also the soul, so much that prayer is forsaken because present pain, even though slight, makes a stronger impression than the image of future joy, even if it be much more intense.

I may add also that our attraction towards corporal pleasures is a purely natural attraction and whatever is according to nature is done easily because neither body nor soul feel it repugnant. On the other hand, our special attraction to the spiritual joy of mental prayer is not natural. I do not mean that it is contrary to nature, but that it is above nature. For the soul cannot practise mental prayer by its own strength alone, but it must be drawn to it by a special gift of God, an impulse coming directly from Him each time. As both body and soul are incapable of achieving this of their own accord, it contains an element of force. That is another reason why it is difficult to start mental prayer, though once started, great joy results.

But I think that the main reason of this difficulty is lack of practice. Even easy actions seem hard through lack of practice, while difficult actions become easy and pleasant for those who make them a habit. Thus all day long I am busy reading or writing and I do this with joy, without any repugnance because I am accustomed to it. To a person without this habit it would seem hard and almost intolerable. Similarly through force of habit we find it easy to keep seeking corporal pleasures which are always at hand; but we find it hard to remain true to the spiritual activity of mental prayer, just because we are not sufficiently accustomed to it. A maxim of pagan philosophers states that men should choose the more perfect way, even if it be more painful, because habit will make it easy. I am convinced that whatever the difficulty or its cause may be, there is no better, stronger, or more effective remedy to counteract it than constant practice. Habit makes the soul alert and able to control the body. The divine influence which first seemed oppressive becomes, as it were, connatural. The joy that we experience, no longer by anticipation but actually present here and now, exerts a stronger attraction as it lessens the distress we feel in establishing the habit.

In conclusion I shall say that the greatest obstacle to spiritual activity and the greatest difficulty in mental prayer is lack of practice. Nothing makes us so ready and eager for it as habitual practice. If you wish to pray easily, you must pray assiduously. If you want to taste the joy of mental prayer, make a habit of it and you will be overwhelmed with joy. Of course we should not pray merely because of the pleasure it gives us, but the pleasure is a means of coming closer to God, attributing everything to His glory, devoting ourselves more completely to His love.”“ [Q IV bis: 173. Published in Vita cristiana, Rivista ascetico-mistica XXI (1952), pp. 149-156, tr. Leclercq]

We should always have recourse to original sources: but all that has been said or written throughout Christianity has its source in Him... . Jesus Christ is a book in which men who understand the language find a résumé of all doctrine, all discipline, all controversy, all learning, all exhortation which have expressed or ever will express divine truth from the beginning to the end of the world. The sacred writers have never conveyed more than a particle of the total doctrine contained in this book; they have been little streams in which flows the water of that inexhaustible fountain. Each of them writes only one chapter, one short paragraph of the blessed book that is Jesus Christ, the abyss and source of all intellectual and moral truth. [Q III:172, tr. Leclercq]

The hermits are allowed to undertake any study that is not forbidden by the Church, providing that they avoid banned books or superstitious books. Everything else may be read by each according to his capacity. Undoubtedly those who study holy Scripture rather than profane works have chosen the better part, for the latter are as nothing compared to the former. Those, therefore, who have made sufficient progress to find all their delight in the continual study of Holy Scripture without the help of any secular books, should abstain from reading anything else. But those who, either to improve their Latin or to acquire other useful knowledge, need to study other matters, may do so, but without forgetting that they should ever tend towards the ultimate goal of a better knowledge of Holy Scripture. Moreover during the days and hours when silence may be broken, two or more hermits together may discuss some point of their studies, give each other lessons or explain texts to each other, especially in books by Christian authors....

When religious who are in the habit of preaching visit the hermitage, the Superior will ask them to speak to the hermits as a means of encouragement....

All the hermits may, without any special permission, enter the library of the hermitage where the books must be arranged in good order. A catalogue of all the books will be kept and any hermit may have the Superior’s permission to take to his cell whatever volumes he may need, provided he furnish the library with written records of the books he has taken....

Each year new books should be bought, whichever seem the best and the most useful: no year should pass without at least ten gold crowns being spent on books....

All this is arranged because experience has proved that in religious souls study stimulates all the virtues. [RVE f. 84^v-85, tr. Leclercq]

To encourage the brothers to study, the General Chapter will each year designate one or more lectors chosen among the most competent hermits. Every day they should read and explain to the others a passage of Holy Scripture. The Superiors should also see to it that the hermits who are more studious and better able to learn should receive instruction from the lectors. [Ed. Lugano, p. 156, tr. Leclercq]

All must keep busy at manual work during the proper and prescribed time for it. Then they must devote other definite hours to reading, prayer, and other spiritual exercises, so that the whole length of the day and night may seem short and insufficient. There should always be more to do than there is time for. Woe to him who begins to find his days dragging. [RVE f.102, tr. Leclercq]

When you go to bed, before falling asleep, read a book of history, preferably the life of a saint or some other easy and pleasant subject. Never cover more than one octavo page, because short and easy reading best suits that time of night.... Your confessions should be brief, simple, and without repetitions: just tell your sins without entering into details of when and how; do not seek or give advice; do not discuss any other matter; do not refer to past confessions.... Never fail to set the table for meals, for you should never eat in a negligent way. If you have no table or bowl, or if they are dirty, ask for clean ones and always eat in a dignified and gentlemanly way.... After Vespers spend the time until Compline at manual work in common, or if there is no community work, do then all the tasks that you can save for that time: washing your clothes, fetching wood or water, sweeping the cell or the Church, and so on. Get all these jobs done ahead of time for the next day.... Each time you return to the cell after the Office, genuflect and say a short prayer, at least a Pater or an Ave or else: Domine Jesu, adoro te, miserere mei et adjuva me—”O Lord Jesus, I adore thee, have mercy on me and help me.” Keep your cell very clean and tidy and well swept (when I say “cell” I include also the garden and the fountain, etc. that are in front of it). Keep your body and your clothes clean; take every precaution against lice, which are a hindrance to the spiritual life. Be humble enough to ask the lay brothers to help you in such tasks as the laundry. But we should not order but rather humbly request others to do what we cannot do or do not know how to do for ourselves. Often it is as great an act of charity to be served as it is to serve. To avoid falling asleep at prayer keep erect, leaning little or not at all. [QIII:187; Q III:52, tr. Leclercq]

Do manual work to the extent that it serves practical needs, keeps you healthy, makes you humble, and provides necessary relaxation. Prefer simple menial tasks, those which help your brothers more than yourself. If there is no need for such work or if your health does not require it, then concentrate on spiritual, rather than physical exercises. Just as the soul is not made for the sake of the body, but the body for the soul, so physical work should be subordinate to spiritual activity. [Q III:52, tr. Leclercq]

Those who have never experienced the occupations of religious leisure imagine that a solitary is constantly depressed by inactivity and idleness, very bored, full of regrets, like a man asleep or a brute beast that passes the time doing nothing. But, my Lord God, I, in my solitude, speak to You. How it delights me to speak to You and when I speak to You I cannot lie. I declare that long years of experience have proved that the more I am solitary, the less I am idle. Only when I am not solitary am I inert, subject to boredom and regret. Never do the days seem so short, the nights so brief, the passage of time so rapid as when I can enjoy beloved solitude, free of all outside occupation and far from all company. It seems to me that in this, more than in any other way of life, occupations are both lacking and superabundant. No indeed, the life of solitaries is not what some may imagine, inactive and idle. More than any other life, it is active and busy. Is it idleness to read, to study, to compose, to write ? Is it idleness to examine our conscience, to regulate our passions, to recall our past life, to put in order our present state, to provide wisely for the future ? Is it idleness to repent our past sins, to combat temptation and inordinate desires, to arm ourselves in advance against the proximate occasions of sin and worry, to think of death and to picture it vividly so that it may not catch us unawares ? Is it idleness to meditate on human and divine truths which alone enthrall noble minds, to ponder these truths, not in haphazard daydreams, but with order and concentration ? Is it idleness to raise our voices frequently by day and by night in psalms, canticles, and hymns, praising God, and thanking Him for all His benefits? Or to praise Him still more eloquently and truly by mental prayer that raises us as high as mortal man can come to the divine Majesty? Thus may we, as it were, transcend, in so far as man is able, this world and converse in heaven with the blessed spirits, the holy Angels and the One who created them and us. Thus may we in some way gaze on the ineffable and indescribable perfections of God reflected by analogy as in a mirror. Is it idleness to inspire and exhort others to such a life by speaking to those present and by writing to those absent? Is it idleness to wear cheap, rough garments, to eat poorly and meagrely, to keep long vigils, to do menial and strenuous work? By these means we can tame the pride of life, curb the desires of the flesh, train the body ever to serve and obey the soul and reason. Do you maintain that all these activities and many other similar practices of hermits are mere inertia, boredom, lethargy ? Instead you must admit that the solitary life is more active and busy than any other, busy not at external corporal tasks or worldly business, but full of nobler and more fruitful activities, such interior and spiritual tasks as best suit the part of man that is immortal.

How it is with other solitaries, I do not know. I can easily believe that each of them manages the leisure of his solitude better than I. But You know, Lord, and You can see that the more solitary I am, the more tasks occur that I ought to do and want to do. But unfortunately through lack of time I must put aside some projects, as if I wanted to save them for another day. Those that I do undertake are often left uncompleted because I lack time to finish them as I should or as best I could, with God’s help. How often in the leisure of solitude I have postponed mental prayer because I was absorbed and delighted in reading! My attention to prayer, weak and cold as it is, keeps me from reading. How often the effort to write down a few ideas for my own sake or to help others has hindered me from giving due time to prayer and study! How often, because of one of these occupations, I have postponed the time for dinner or deprived my body, as now, of the hours of needed rest ! I would like to do more; each task seems essential, each attracts me strongly. Yet I do none perfectly, or even as well as I might, with divine help, if I had enough time and if I thought of only one at a time.

Whoever may believe and say that solitaries are inactive and idle, I shall never cease thinking and saying that no other life is as active and busy as that of God’s servants, the hermits. For a time, longer than I would have liked, I experienced worldly affairs and the worries of governing a Congregation. In these matters I always seemed impeded more by lack of ability, application, and diligence than by lack of time. With the business of active life, the more I do, the less there is to do. But in matters of the solitary life, the more ability, application, and diligence I muster, the more I always find to do and the less time to do it. In solitary leisure, that is, the contemplative life, the more I do, the more I see to be done. In active life it is generally enough to plan and arrange matters well and then delegate the work to others. But the duties of contemplative life must all, with God’s help, be arranged and performed by ourselves. The former can, for the most part, be arranged and carried on while eating or walking about. The latter are of such nature that each requires an entirely free mind and absorbs the whole self.

To express what I mean I will give an example. To perform worldly duties, however many they may be, one soul suffices. But it seems to me that even a hundred souls would not suffice for the duties of the life of leisure. In any case I am sure that all the hundred could be occupied worthily and fruitfully. Men who are engaged in secular affairs, especially those in authority, need only one soul and they have plenty of time at their disposal. Sometimes they even feel the need of distraction and seek out pastimes to prevent boredom. They take up games and music and all sorts of absurdities characteristic of senseless and inane persons. A hermit finds that one soul alone is not enough for him to serve God as he would like and ought and perhaps could. He would like to have a hundred souls and if he had them, he is sure that he could keep them all busy: he even doubts if that many would be sufficient. He takes great care in regulating his time. He keeps vigil, eats only once a day, and avoids all extraneous occupation in order to make his days and nights longer than they are for other men. In spite of all this he has too little time and too much work. On the other hand, men who are occupied in base worldly activities, in sleep, in debauchery, in laughter, in improper conversations, loathe as if it were death itself the idea of being alone and recollected, of reflecting on themselves. These are the very men, oddly enough, who accuse hermits of being idle, useless, and sterile, who consider them mere gluttons. We must pardon such men and pity them, for they are mistaken. They stray from the way of truth by thus judging and condemning others while they themselves wander into still greater peril by their own conduct. Lord God, deign to pardon them and by paths known only to Your Majesty, lead them to eternal light so that they may be liberated from the darkness of this world and may know this truth and many others that are still hidden from them.

But returning to myself: now that by Your grace, Lord, I am more solitary than ever before, I know that I cannot find time to do all I should do and would like to do in Your service.... Oh, how many books I would like to read, were it not for lack of time and the demands of other duties! Not that I yearn to re-read the books of pagan philosophers and poets, for I regret and repent having devoted more time than I should have to such study. But I would like to read many commentaries that would reveal the hidden and spiritual sense of Your holy Scriptures. I would like to read many works that might spur my soul to piety and compunction, moral treatises that would help me to distinguish one kind of leprosy from another, one sin from another. Oh, how I wish I could carry Your holy Gospels next to my heart, ever in my hand as did the holy Virgin St. Cecilia, that I might never interrupt day or night that divine study! You know, Lord, that I have often intended to do so; but either I lacked time or my soul was busy at other things. Not only would I like to read, but I need to strive earnestly to understand what is read, to concentrate on the meaning rather than the words, to compare the opinions of various theologians, or various passages of one of them, to follow also the other practices of serious scholars... .

To read and to write are truly the easiest tasks, the least absorbing and the least perfect of the solitary’s life.... We must also meditate, pray, and rise as high as we can in the contemplation of heavenly truths. We must feel bitter repentance of the ill-used days of our life; we must examine, describe. control, regulate, moderate the passions of the present time; we must pledge our future to God’s service; we must think of death and prepare for it. After such meditation on visible and created reality, what can we say of the quest of the invisible reality of God ? What can we say of mental prayer ? We must thank You, Lord, for Your favours, thank You for having created us and for having provided the whole visible world for our use. We must praise You and thank You for the blessing of the Redemption that You accomplished, You who became incarnate, who lived among men, who taught them by example and by preaching, who died and was raised to life for them. We must thank You for the countless marvellous blessings that You have granted to all humanity, for the particular blessings that You gave us and that You continue to bestow each day. We must praise You, adore You, offer You the homage of latria or adoration that is due to You alone. Our intellects and our wills must unite to invoke You, to offer and consecrate ourselves to Your service, to submit and conform to Your will, to desire You alone and Your glory, to strive to know You ever better, to love You, to yearn towards You, to cling to You, to be united to You, to be transformed in You, to disappear and be annihilated in You. How many complex aspects there are in the practice of meditation and in the contemplation of Your invisible and ineffable perfections: Your eternity, omnipotence, immensity, wisdom, ineffable charity, and the justice that is inseparable from Your mercy. You, alone, Lord, are a fathomless abyss, immense, vast enough to absorb the attention of a countless multitude of souls, as You enthrall the countless multitudes of heavenly spirits.

Men immersed in worldly affairs should not say that solitaries are inactive or idle. If by idle they mean that hermits neither buy nor sell nor build nor navigate nor engage in lawsuits nor raise children, then such a condemnation would likewise apply to the holy Angels of God who could be termed idle, inactive, and useless. With differences of manner and degree, the solitary undertakes the same activities as the Blessed Spirits. With the Seraphim he tirelessly loves the Creator; with the Cherubim he constantly thinks of God alone; with the Thrones he strives to make his own soul a temple of the Supreme Creator; and likewise for all the other angelic functions. In all things he tries to act like the angels. Moreover, since the hermit is a man he must attend to all sorts of corporal actions . . . which the angelic spirits never encounter. So it is that a hermit could be considered even less idle than an angel, since the hermit devotes to God’s service not only the operations of his soul but also his exterior actions. He lifts his voice to praise Your divine Majesty by day and by night. He offers an example of humility, patience, and all the virtues. He celebrates the all-holy mysteries of the Mass, offering the salutary Sacrifice of the Sacred Body and Precious Blood of Jesus, as well as receiving that Body as his food often, almost daily. He prepares for this mystery, contemplating the divine mercy, offering thanks for such a heavenly gift, such an extraordinary boon. In addition, since the hermit, however holy he may be, still treads the slippery and dusty path of our human pilgrimage, he must admit how often his feet, that is, his affections, are sullied by the mud of some vain and harmful concupiscence or by the dust of human praise. He must then undertake the tedious task of purification. From this the angelic spirits are exempt, for they are free of such weakness. At every step, that is, in every act, the hermit must take tremendous precautions to avoid stepping into the mud or the dust. In spite of all this effort, so frail is human nature and so numerous are the perils of this life that he must frequently be cleansed and washed by contrition, penance, and confession. He must seek new strength in the firm purpose to watch over himself by greater care in the future. I need hardly mention, as it proves little or nothing, the hermit’s tears, as he weeps through sorrow at having offended God or by excess of joy, as he welcomes heavenly favours and the divine presence within him. He weeps in his impatient longing for his heavenly home; he weeps in his burning desire to see You, oh Lord Jesus Christ, and to enjoy the beatific vision of Your presence. I shall not describe the spiritual conversations of the hermit with his Guardian angel, with the other blessed spirits, and with the souls of those whom he has loved in this world and whom he now loves more than ever since they left him, especially those whose virtue was so great that he may suppose them already happy in heaven.

If, after such an enumeration of important activity, anyone can still maintain that hermits are idle, inactive, and subject to boredom, I confess that I am willing and even glad to be idle and inactive in that way than to be active in the manner of worldlings. Of this I am not ashamed. Rather I am proud of being chosen to enter Your service, Lord Jesus Christ, and to be disdained and condemned as inactive and useless. Being a religious and a hermit, I leave to others the worldly affairs in which they judge themselves to be so active, so worthily employed, so important. In exchange for their low opinion of us, I consider them to be like children who fashion little houses of straw and mud or play all day with pebbles as if with precious gems, so foolish that they are comical. When I see the worldlings engrossed and busy all day long with earthly matters, which are nothing but scattered straw; when I see them place such a high value on the treasures of this life, which are but mud and pebbles, then I cannot say that I laugh, but I feel a great pity. Knowing that this world passes away and contains nothing that endures, I have withdrawn from it as much as I can by leading a religious life in solitude. All my thoughts and desires become so many steps on the path to the true homeland in heaven. Weak as I am, I drive myself onward and spur others to the same destination. On this journey, which to me seems nowise idle or inactive but rather active and busy, I ever praise You, my Lord, and strive to know and love You always, until through Your mercy, I may reach that land where I can endlessly know You, perfectly love You, eternally praise You. There I may sleep and rest in peace with You, rest in the peace that is not idle and inactive but is busier than all other business, the peace which You enjoy, and with You all the Blessed Spirits. Amen. [Q IV bis:92, tr. Leclercq]

Camaldoli hermits and all others who wish to observe these Constitutions of eremitic life should know that they do not perfectly contain all that is required of the religious and eremitic life. However, those who wish to put them into practice will find therein an external regulation of eremitic life.

Moreover, all those who wish to know and attain all that pertains to a more perfect observance of the religious and eremitical life of the interior man, should first read the sacred Gospel and the Commentaries on the Gospel which clarify certain points, that is, the Letters of the Holy Apostles, which are nothing other than an exposition of the evangelical doctrine.

This evangelical and apostolic doctrine contains the complete teaching of Christian perfection and the perfect method of religious life, not only with regard to external observance but also with regard to internal work. Indeed, first of all, it is not human wisdom, which can err and fail, that instructs us, but rather the ineffable Divine Wisdom itself, which knows perfectly well what we must know and what is not absolutely necessary to know.

Furthermore, a teaching does not appear complete unless it is confirmed by the examples of the one who proposes it; therefore, in the Gospels, to doctrine are added the greatest examples of all the virtues that divine Wisdom has shown us through the assumed humanity of the Word, so that, what the Lord did or endured in his true humanity, we humans too could realize, without any room for excuses.

Indeed, it is written that Jesus acted and taught in such a way that his doctrine would be confirmed by his actions and that we too would be encouraged to imitate him.

If, therefore, we wish to have a perfect model of religious life, let us look to the Gospel and the doctrine of our Lord Jesus Christ; let us put into practice and imitate his examples, and in this way we will reach the pinnacle of perfection in all the virtues.

In the Gospel we learn especially how to love God with all our heart, with all our mind and ^[13] with all our strength, so that everything is directed to Him and nothing is placed before the divine will, and how to desire and pray that always, not our will, but His will be done. We also learn how love must have its right response in works. For that love which is not followed by the practice of works is empty. Jesus said: I love the Father and as He told me to do , so I do ^[14] . And He proposes the same thing to us: He who loves me , He said, keeps my commandments ^[15] .

This is the first and greatest of the commandments: that we should love God more than ourselves and direct every other affection toward Him, until we love Him in fullness; and we should learn to hate our father, our mother, our brothers, our sisters, and even our own soul. For whoever does not hate his father and mother, and does not hate his own soul, is not worthy of divine love ^[16] .

Added to this commandment, and similar, is the commandment to love one’s neighbor not in himself and for himself, not with carnal affection, which even imperfect men do in the world, but to love him in God with spiritual affection as one loves oneself.

Therefore, the holy doctrine and example of Christ teach nothing more to those who follow the religious life, servants and disciples of Christ, than to love, after God, their neighbor as themselves and to consider all men as neighbors, and to extend this love not only to parents and relatives, but also to those they do not know, that is, to guests and pilgrims, and even extend it even to their enemies. In practice:

—not to desire or seek revenge for injuries, but rather to bless those who curse us;

—to forgive those who trespass against us, not only seven times but seventy times seven, if we want to be forgiven our gravest sins against God.

Not only should we not harbor a grudge against our brother, but if he has something against us, we should make every effort to reconcile him, in whatever way and with all humility, before presenting our offering at the altar.

Never utter derisive or slanderous words, such as stupid or good-for-nothing, about a brother. Never become angry, or, if it sometimes happens through human frailty, never give vent to your anger, nor absolutely allow the sun to set on your anger.

Patiently endure material harm from others, open slander and gossip, and disappointment from any word or insult; and for this reason, do not fail to love them. To those who take away your tunic, give your cloak as well; do not demand what you have been given and not returned; to those who force you to take a thousand steps, take two thousand; to those who strike you on the right cheek, offer the other as well.

To preserve the love of our neighbor intact and inviolate even in the midst of adversity, we must not be saddened by having to endure something unjust, for that is precisely when we should be happy. Rather, we must consider it a great joy when we are forced to endure various and undeserved tribulations, to endure the insults of slanderers and detractors, and finally, we must willingly give our all not only for our friends but also for the salvation of our enemies, so that, if possible, through our bodily death, they may return to the true life, which is in God.

In this way, Jesus taught not only with words, but also with examples; He who was mocked and remained silent; He who was accused and did not respond; He who was beaten and endured everything like a lamb before its shearer; He who was crucified and prayed for those who crucified him; and even more, He who offered himself for those who sought his life and, as the just for the unjust, did not refuse to die for us, even though we were his enemies.

He, who committed no sin, suffered all this unjustly. We, however, cannot claim to have suffered any undeserved wrong, because we are sinners and are rewarded according to our actions; and any offense or injury inflicted on us by our neighbors is not to be considered an offense, but a punishment, because we first sinned against God, and therefore we must believe that all the evil that befalls us comes not from man alone, but by the will of God.

From this source of genuine love flow all the streams of holy and religious life; thus the soul, irrigated by them, produces not only flowers, but the perfect fruits of every virtue.

In the life and doctrine of Jesus Christ, after love towards God and our neighbor, we learn:

— to flee from vainglory and avoid prestigious positions, even if they are offered;

We learn then that the greatest must behave as if he were the least, and the first as if he were a servant; and to follow His humility in all things: He who, being God, emptied Himself by taking the form of a servant; He, who, as soon as He realized that they had come to take Him and make Him king, fled to the mountain all alone and refused any power, even if it belonged to Him. These, moreover, are His teachings:

—not to be always quarreling, but at peace with all, and to maintain this peace, as far as we can, even with those who do not seek it;

— do not slander anyone, but rather cheerfully bear the insults inflicted or the slanders spread about us;

— do not imitate the pride and temerity of the Pharisee in judging others, but the humility of the publican, who accuses himself;

—do not desire the attractive things of the world; do not fear the adverse ones;

—not to worry about what is to come, but first to seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and to cast every other care upon God;

— if the Lord has given us particular abilities, do not put them aside, well protected and hidden underground, but double them, make them visible and exploit them;

—however , do not put the oil needed for our lamps into those of the foolish virgins, so that it will not be enough for us or for them;

—do good works in front of everyone, so that they are effective examples and can be shown to others as burning lamps;

—but to keep the same works in the secret of the soul, as regards the intention for which we want to please God alone;

— always have the eye of intention clear and simple, so that the whole body may be shining;

— if our right eye or hand or foot causes us to sin, take it away and throw it away;

—to listen willingly to those who teach you right things, even if they don’t put them into practice;

—to guard not only the body from evil deeds , but also to keep the Spirit free from every desire for worldly things;

— do not give in to temptations, but pray without ceasing not only for oneself, but also for all human creatures;

—to continually weep before God not only for one’s own sins, but also for those of one’s neighbor, that is, for all human creatures, and to ask forgiveness for them with supplications;

—persevere , then, in prayer, without becoming discouraged, even when we do not receive what we ask for;

—do good in silence and in secret, so that your left hand does not know what your right hand is doing;

—do not fear poverty, exile, persecution, curses, prison, torments and death itself, things which are good for the soul, following the example of Him who, innocent, endured all this;

—to bear the mockery of men with good courage, without giving in and succumbing to the temptations of the devil, but to sustain them manfully;

—patiently endure adversity, the death of friends, and all the infirmities of one’s body;

—to dominate the body in its instincts with fasting, flagellation, physical exercises and the constant thought of death;

—to mourn one’s sins frequently and sincerely and to mourn those of others as well;

—never looking back, but forgetting things past, always reaching out towards new things;

—and , finally, after having done everything that God has commanded us, to judge ourselves as useless servants and, even if we were convinced that we have never erred (which is very difficult), not to consider ourselves justified, but to implore incessantly, with groans and tears more of the heart than of the eyes, the mercy of the Lord, which we all need.

Of all these, one thing in particular must always be kept before the hermit’s mind: those who truly desire to serve the Most High Creator God must constantly do all this and many other things of this kind, which it would take too long to describe here, not for love of glory or human esteem, as hypocrites do; not for the mere pleasure inherent in virtue—as we believe even philosophers far from the true worship of God did; not for fear of eternal punishment or for the desire for heavenly happiness—the former is servile, the latter is mercenary; but solely out of pure, simple, and most ardent love of God, Best and Greatest, in full abandonment to His will and seeking His glory in all things. All these things and many others of their kind are teachings of the Gospel, of the Holy Apostles, and norms of Christian perfection. And since they truly contain the perfect doctrine of the religious life, hermits who have embraced the state of perfect solitary life must diligently meditate and reconsider them day and night and then put them into practice effectively.

But since it is difficult to fully embrace these proposals for a perfect life without an external framework of just discipline, this is why the present Constitutions of eremitic life have been proposed. We are convinced that they do not describe the perfect model of religious life, but that through them we can attain the most perfect norms, namely, those of the Gospel and the Apostles.

^[1] It is a constant fact of the most genuine monastic tradition that the monk declines, as far as possible, the priestly ministry in order to better preserve the humility of spirit, solitude, silence and purity of the monastic vocation complete in itself.

^[4] Penitential flagellation, highly recommended by St. Peter Damian, was common practice in religious life until recently.

^[6] Assembly of the monastic community which gathers in the chapter hall (“Chapter”).

^[7] Of the approximately twenty hermits at Camaldoli, at the time of Blessed Paul five sometimes lived asrecluses. The relationship between the openand thereclusesis that of mutual fraternal service.

^[11] Tristega: literally it is a three-story building like Noah's ark (cf. Gen 6:16). In the Camaldolese hermitages "tristega" is a room used for communal meals when silence is dispensed with, a few times a year.

^[12] On the Camaldolese forestry see the essay by G. Cacciamani,The ancient forest of Camaldoli, Camaldoli 1965.

^[16] Cf.Lk14:26.Afterwards, the scriptural references are no longer indicated; they would be too numerous.

[Inaccurate] History of The Origins of Cenobites and Hermits

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