Reading 132, from Yves Raguin and the Carthusian Statutes
Those who know conjugal love can feel sorry for us by thinking that we do not know what love is. May they rest assured, the love of God seen in faith, even in an obscure faith, is more sure, more stable, closer, softer, stronger, more fulfilling and inebriating than any other type of love. In faith we have a certainty that no other experience can give. Therein is the meaning of the word of Scripture: ´I will marry you in faith.´
The primary application of our vocation is to give ourselves to the silence and solitude of the cell. It is holy ground, the area where God and his servant hold frequent conversations, as between friends. There, the soul often unites itself to the Word of God, bride to the groom, the earth to the sky, man to the divine. (Statutes 4.1)
The primary application of our vocation is to give ourselves to the silence and solitude of the cell. It is holy ground, the area where God and his servant hold frequent conversations, as between friends. There, the soul often unites itself to the Word of God, bride to the groom, the earth to the sky, man to the divine. (Statutes 4.1)
Solitude is lived on three levels
- Separation from the world
- The Cell
- Interior solitude, or solitude of the heart
1. Separation from the world is made possible by the cloister. We only leave the monastery for an occasional walk. We do no receive visits nor exercise any outside apostolate. We have neither radio nor television in the monastery. It is the prior who receive news and tell the monks what they need to know. As such the necessary conditions for internal silence develop, which then permit the soul to stay alert and attentive to the presence of God.
2. The Cell is a hermitage arranged in such a manner as to assure the Carthusian a solitude as complete as possible, all the while giving him the necessities of life. Each cell consists of a two story building surrounded by a garden, where the monk lives alone for most of the day, for the duration of all his life.It is because of this solitude that each of our cells is called a Desert or Hermitage.
3. The cloister and cell only assure an external solitude. It is only the first step whose goal is to encourage interior solitude, or purity of heart: to keep one’s soul away from any and all things not of God or which do not lead to God. It is at this level that the Carthusian meets the sudden impulses of his thought and the changes of his feelings. As long as the monk discusses with his “self”, his sensibilities, his worthless thoughts, unreal desires, he is not centered on God. It is here that he experiences his weakness and the power of the Spirit which he learns bit by bit “…the habit of the tranquil listening of the heart which allows God to enter by all path and access.” (Statutes 4.2)
My notes:
In a world tired of everything whatsoever, the Carthusian way has few takers and the single life is well nigh a thing of the past. I am deeply concerned that there may be single women and men out there who feel a call to celibacy but do not know how to express or pursue their inner-most desires. They often get side-tracked to futile things. If you are one called to the single life and celibacy, then explore the contemplative way. As for me, I am a contemplative in action. And a married person not called by God to celibacy.
Married life as well as celibacy are gifts of the same God. None can be happily wedded unless God wills so; neither can one be single and holy unless God call her. Assess your own life, does God call you especially for any state of life? May be God wants you to be married, or single? Pray and ask and doors will be opened for you. And neither promise celibacy nor marriage to anyone till you know that God wants you to do so. You don’t matter; only God does. the Carthusian motto itself is revitalizing:
The Cross is steady while the world is turning.
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