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FRIDAY
OCTOBER 4 2013
SCOTTISH
CATHOLIC OBSERVER
REFLECTION
Roots are the firm
foundation for our lives,
and for our Faith.
and for our Faith.
ABBOT MARK CAIRA of
NUNRAW writes in this
week’s SCO spirituality section.
Roots
It’s common enough nowadays to want to go back to our family
roots, to see where we came from. We
need to feel that we belong to someone or we like to become identified with
something. We want to get to the truth
of our history. So much of what we
believe about ourselves and our past may have become oversimplified and maybe distorted. The truth can often be more interesting than
what we first believed. It would be
surprising if some of our personal history or anything that we are associated
with did not have a degree of fiction about it.
However, we are told that the truth will set us free. To be someone we don’t have to be larger than
life, like some of the mega stars in today’s world.
Beginnings
Like all religious Orders, Cistercians have been looking at
their early history. Contrary to a
popular belief, St Bernard was not their founder. That popular assumption may have arisen
because Bernard wrote so much about the life and times of the Order, or perhaps
from the influence he undoubtedly had in his own lifetime. Before he appeared on the scene, it was a
small group of monks who founded the monastery of Cîteaux in 1098 in northern
France. This was the seed that grew into the Cistercian Order.
This little band of monks was led by Sts Robert, Alberic and
Stephen Harding, an Englishman. Each one
of them no doubt had their own strengths and weaknesses of personality. But together they put down their roots in the
wooded area of Cîteaux. There they set
about creating a suitable environment in which they could continue their search
for God. There are different reasons
given as to why they left their monastery to make this new foundation. The one that lies nearest the truth is that
they wanted to live the Rule of St Benedict more strictly according to what they
believed St Benedict intended when he wrote his rule for monks in the sixth
century.
It used to be claimed that these first Cistercians were reacting
against a decadent monasticism. That is
far from the truth. The eleventh and
twelfth centuries were periods of enormous change in Church and society. People were being challenged with new ideas
and ways of doing things. There were obvious
risks involved but peoples’ lives did become more meaningful.
In the Church itself at this time, men and women were being
drawn by charismatic and holy figures who were setting up new forms of
community life. What they were offering
was different from what went before. This upsurge of interest threw up new forms
of monastic life some of which still exist today. Perhaps the best known of these are the
Carthusians under the inspiration of St Bruno.
The Benedictine monks of this period were themselves far from decadent. One accusation against them was that they
were lax or had lost their vision. But it
wasn’t entirely a case of White Monks (Cistercians) rejecting the loose living
of Black Monks (Benedictines). Around
this time, for example, there were the Benedictine monks of Cluny who lived edifying
lives. These were headed by a number of very holy
abbots over a period of 200 years. The
feast day of these Holy Abbots of Cluny is kept on 11 May.
Then and Now
Robert, Alberic and Stephen and their companions left their
original monastery because they sought to live more simply and strictly than their
monastery allowed. They didn’t leave to
follow some charismatic figure. With St
Robert and his companions it was a matter of doing things together. When Robert was asked to return to his
previous monastery, Alberic was elected Cîteaux’s next abbot and when he died
Stephen was chosen to replace him.
It was only later that the first monks of Cîteaux began to develop
and organise their lifestyle so that their first spirit would be protected for
the future. They adapted to the times. Because of that they became the most
influential and popular of the new monastic groups of the twelfth century.
These early Cistercians were responding to changed times in
which uncertainty and experiment were part of the spirit of the time. God was still calling people to leave their
ordinary ways of life but the manner was different. The characteristics of the Cistercian way
were the call to simplicity and authenticity, without giving up beauty in their
liturgy or pleasing forms to their buildings.
Religious communities today are facing reduced numbers. This does not necessarily mean that the days
of religious communities are over. But
we do need to be more alert in today’s world to what God is asking of us. People are still searching for God, seeking how
to tune into his wavelength. It is the
vocation of everyone to make time and space in their lives to receive the
message God is sending out. Not all of
us are good at this but we can all pray that those who do have this gift from
God may help us become more attuned to it.
The men and women of the eleventh and twelfth centuries were
called to serve God in the new ways that their society both offered and needed.
God didn’t stop calling them to give
themselves to the needs of the Church and society then. It’s not likely that he has stopped doing
that now.
Through the ages every religious order has had to take stock of
itself. Everyone in fact needs to do
that. Those who do this well will find
peace in their lives. Those who do not
are likely to wither. It is the old call
of the Gospel for renewal and transformation.
When we let God into our lives we get to know what the love of God is. If we don’t make an effort to do this or
simply ignore God, it doesn’t mean that he will leave us alone – just that it
will take God a little longer to show us what is best for us.
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