To the Contemplative Sisters of the Carmel of Lisieux (2 June 1980)
ShareOn Monday, 2 June 1980, the Holy Father addressed the Contemplative Sisters of the Carmel of Lisieux, saying that their “oblation of love is integrated by Christ himself into his work of universal Redemption, a bit like the waves melting into the depths of the ocean.”
My dear Sisters,
1. Peace and joy in Christ Jesus! To you who surround: the humble successor of the Apostle Peter!
And, through you, to all the nuns who live on the land of France!
I must first say how deeply moved I am to be able to pray near the shrine which contains the remains of Saint Thérèse. I have already expressed at length my thanksgiving and my attachment to the “spiritual way” that she adopted and offered to the whole Church. I now experience great joy in visiting this Carmel which was the setting for her life and her death, her sanctification, in the midst of her Sisters, and which must remain a high place of prayer and sanctification for the Carmelites and for all pilgrims. It is from there that I would like to strengthen you all, whatever your spiritual family, in your contemplative life, which is absolutely vital for the Church and for humanity.
2. While deeply loving our era, it must be recognized that modern thought easily encloses in subjectivism everything that concerns religions, the faith of believers, religious feelings. And this vision does not spare monastic life. So much so that public opinion, and alas! sometimes some Christians who are more sensitive to concrete commitment alone are tempted to consider your contemplative life as an escape from reality, an anachronistic and even useless activity. This misunderstanding can make you suffer, even humiliate you. I will say to you like Christ: “Do not be afraid, little flock”[ 1 ]. Moreover, a certain monastic renewal, which manifests itself through your country, should keep you in hope.
But I also add: take up the challenge of the contemporary world and the world of always, living more radically than ever the very mystery of your completely original condition, which is madness in the eyes of the world and wisdom in the Holy Spirit: the exclusive love of the Lord and of all your fellow human beings in Him. Don't even try to justify yourself! All love, once it is authentic, pure and disinterested, carries its own justification.
To love gratuitously is an inalienable right of the person, even - and it should be said above all - when the Beloved is God himself. Following the contemplatives and mystics of all times, continue to attest with strength and humility to the transcendent dimension of the human person, created in the likeness of God and called to a life of intimacy with Him.
Saint Augustine, at the end of meditations made as much with his heart as with his penetrating intelligence, assures us that the beatitude of man is there: in the loving contemplation of God! This is why the quality of your belonging to the Lord in love, both on a personal level and on a community level, is of extreme importance. The density and radiance of your life “hidden in God” must raise questions for the men and women of today, must raise questions for young people who so often seek the meaning of life.
By meeting you or seeing you, any visitor, guest or retreatant from your monasteries should be able to say or at least feel that he has encountered God, that he has experienced an epiphany of the Mystery of God who is Light and Love! The times we live in need witnesses as well as apologists! Be, for your part, these very humble and always transparent witnesses!
3. Let me assure you again - in the name of the constant tradition of the Church - that not only can your life announce the Absolute of God, but that it possesses a marvelous and mysterious power of spiritual fruitfulness[ 2]. For what? Because your oblation of love is integrated by Christ himself into his work of universal Redemption, a bit like the waves melting into the depths of the ocean. Seeing you, I think of the Mother of Christ, I think of the holy women of the Gospel, standing at the foot of the Lord's cross and sharing in his saving death, but also messengers of his resurrection. You have chosen to live, or rather Christ has chosen you to live with him his Paschal Mystery through time and space. Everything you are, everything you do every day, whether it is the psalmodized or sung office, the celebration of the Eucharist, the work in the cell or in fraternal teams, respect for the enclosure and silence, mortifications chosen or imposed by the rule, everything is assumed, sanctified, used by Christ for the redemption of the world. So that you have no doubt on this subject, the Church - in the very name of Christ - one day took possession of all your powers to live and to love. It was your monastic profession. Update it often! And, following the example of the saints, consecrate yourselves, immolate yourselves ever more, without even trying to find out how God is using your collaboration. While at the base of every action there is a goal and therefore a limitation, a finitude, the gratuitousness of your love is at the origin of contemplative fruitfulness. A very modern simile comes to mind: you ignite the world with the fire of revealed truth and love, much like the masters of the atom ignite space rockets: from a distance. the Church - in the very name of Christ - one day took possession of all your powers to live and to love. It was your monastic profession. Update it often! And, following the example of the saints, consecrate yourselves, immolate yourselves ever more, without even trying to find out how God is using your collaboration. While at the base of every action there is a goal and therefore a limitation, a finitude, the gratuitousness of your love is at the origin of contemplative fruitfulness. A very modern simile comes to mind: you ignite the world with the fire of revealed truth and love, much like the masters of the atom ignite space rockets: from a distance. the Church - in the very name of Christ - one day took possession of all your powers to live and to love. It was your monastic profession. Update it often! And, following the example of the saints, consecrate yourselves, immolate yourselves ever more, without even trying to find out how God is using your collaboration. While at the base of every action there is a goal and therefore a limitation, a finitude, the gratuitousness of your love is at the origin of contemplative fruitfulness. A very modern simile comes to mind: you ignite the world with the fire of revealed truth and love, much like the masters of the atom ignite space rockets: from a distance. consecrate yourselves, immolate yourselves ever more, without even seeking to know how God uses your collaboration. While at the base of every action there is a goal and therefore a limitation, a finitude, the gratuitousness of your love is at the origin of contemplative fruitfulness. A very modern simile comes to mind: you ignite the world with the fire of revealed truth and love, much like the masters of the atom ignite space rockets: from a distance. consecrate yourselves, immolate yourselves ever more, without even seeking to know how God uses your collaboration. While at the base of every action there is a goal and therefore a limitation, a finitude, the gratuitousness of your love is at the origin of contemplative fruitfulness. A very modern simile comes to mind: you ignite the world with the fire of revealed truth and love, much like the masters of the atom ignite space rockets: from a distance.
4. Finally, I would like to add two encouragements that seem appropriate to me. The first concerns fidelity to the charism of your foundresses or founders. The good fraternity and the cooperation which exist more than before between the monasteries should not lead to a certain leveling of the contemplative institutes. May each spiritual family take good care of its particular identity for the good of the whole Church. What is done in one place is not necessarily to be imitated elsewhere.
My second encouragement is the following. In a civilization that is increasingly mobile, sonorous and talking, areas of silence and rest are becoming a vital necessity. The monasteries - in their original style - therefore have more than ever the vocation to remain places of peace and interiority. Do not allow internal or external pressures to undermine your traditions and your means of meditation. Instead, strive to educate your hosts and retreatants in the virtue of silence. You are certainly aware that I had the opportunity to remind the participants in the plenary session of the Congregation for Religious, last March 7, of the rigorous observance of monastic cloister. I remembered on this subject the very strong words of my predecessor Paul VI: “The enclosure does not isolate the contemplative souls from the communion of the Mystical Body. Even more, it places them at the heart of the Church”. Love your separation from the world, quite comparable to the biblical desert. Paradoxically, this desert is not a vacuum. It is there that the Lord speaks to your heart and associates you closely with his work of salvation.
These are the convictions that I wanted to confide to you very simply, my dear Sisters. You will make the best use of it, I am sure. You pray a lot for the fruitfulness of my ministry. Many thanks! Know well that the Pope also and very often joins, by the heart and the prayer, the monasteries of France and of the whole world. I hope and I ask the Lord, through the intercession of the holy Carmelite of Lisieux, that solid and numerous vocations come to increase and renew your various contemplative communities. I bless you with all my heart, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[ 1 ] Cfr. Luke . 12, 22.
[ 2 ] Cfr. Perfectae Caritatis , 7.
© Copyright 1980 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Copyright © Dicastero per la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
