LEHODEY, VITAL. - Ascetic-mystical theologian of the Trappists, born Alcime at Hamlye (France) on 17 Dec. 1857, died at Bricquebec on 6 May 1948. Ordained priest on 18 Dec. 1880, on 28 July 1890 he entered the Trappist monastery at Bricquebec (France) taking the name Vital, and was elected abbot there on 8 July 1895, resigning on 20 July 1929 for reasons of health.
He was entrusted with the revision of the Directoire Spirituel of his Order (Bricquebec 1905; Italian ed. Rome 1920), in which he insisted on the primacy of charity and contemplation, without however minimizing the importance of asceticism.
His name remains especially linked to two works: Les voies de l'oraison mentale (Paris 1908; Italian trans. Turin 1922), in which he teaches, in a simple and clear style, a doctrine drawn from the sources of sound theology and from the spirituality of the great Cistercian and other masters, on mental prayer in all its degrees, thus rendering this delicate subject accessible to all and contributing greatly to the rehabilitation of mysticism.
Also famous is his Le saint abandon (Paris 1919; Italian trans. Florence 1945), in which with profound doctrine he teaches the nature, foundation, object and fruits of abandonment; it is a sure guide showing how such a disposition of soul is entirely based on interior renunciation and on the most generous love.