BENEDICT OF CANFIELD. - In the world William Filch; Capuchin mystical writer, b. in the county of Essex (England) in 1562, d. in the convent of St. Honoré in Paris on 21 Nov. 1610. Converted from Protestantism, he became a Capuchin in Paris on 23 March 1587; from 1589 he studied theology in Italy, where he made the first draft of his Rule of Perfection, matured in the spiritual environment of northern Italy. In 1592 he was master of novices and in 1594 guardian at Orléans. From 1599 for about three years he lived in England, where he was imprisoned by the heretics. After 1602 we find him master of novices at Rouen and a sought-after and influential director of many souls, among them Mme Acarie (v.), the convert Abra de Raconis, Madeleine de Sourdis, Marie de Beauvilliers. He wrote various spiritual works; in Le chevalier chrétien (Paris 1609, English trans. London 1619), he sets out Christian doctrine and morality. Because of its synthetic form and practical character, La règle de perfection (Paris 1609, parts 1 and 2; ibid. 1610, completed with the mystical part 3) had a wide diffusion; there are about 18 French editions, 8 Latin, two of which in Italy (Rome 1625 and 1666), 5 German, 5 Flemish, 2 Spanish, 3 Italian (Venice 1616, Rome 1649, Viterbo 1667).
B. teaches you that perfection consists in the union of intellect and will of the creature, which is "nothing," with God, who is the "all"; the intimate summit is the mystical union of the spirit with the divine essence. One arrives there through the simple and loving gaze upon the divine will and through the continuous exercise of its fulfillment; we must seek to motivate our every act from the pure and perfect love of God. Beginners must exercise themselves in doing in all things the exterior will of God, expressed by his law and by reason; the proficient must in the contemplative life carry out the interior will of God, which is manifested in the interior recollection of the soul; the proper exercise of the supereminent or mystical life consists in conforming oneself to the essential will of God, which is reached through infused contemplation; whose permanent content is the incarnate Word, crucified for us; the Christian considers his own sufferings as a participation in the Passion of Jesus Christ.
This system is built on the mystical doctrines of Henry Herp (v.) or Harphius (d. 1477), with reference also to Alfonso of Madrid (v.) and to the ancient Franciscan school. The doctrine of "nothing" and "all" recalls St. John of the Cross. Evident, moreover, is the kinship with the Breve compendio di perfezione cristiana of the Milanese noblewoman Isabella Cristina Lomazzi Bellinzaga (v.), in the footsteps of St. Catherine of Genoa (v.). On B.'s work a great part of the Capuchin mystical authors was formed, such as Laurent of Paris (v.), Constantine of Barbanson (v.), John the Evangelist of Hertogenbosch, Paul of Lagny (v.), and it had considerable influence also outside the Order, on St. Vincent de Paul, on Card. Bona (v.) and on Card. de Bérulle (v.). The doctrinal content is sound, in conformity with tradition, with the additional contribution of his own interpretation and experience. The lack, however, of greater theological precision and clarity made possible the criticisms, for example, of Jerome of the Mother of God Gracián (d. 1614, v.), and the abusive Quietist interpretations; because of this danger the book was placed on the Index on 24 March 1689.
Bibliography9 works
Leopoldo da Ebersberg