Letters7 Letter VII. To the monk Adam. (A.D. 1126)
Letter VII. To the monk Adam. (A.D. 1126)
1. If you remain yet in that spirit of charity which I either knew or believed to be with you formerly, you would certainly feel the condemnation with which charity must regard the scandal which you have given to the weak. For charity would not offend charity, nor scorn when it feels itself offended. For it cannot deny itself, nor be divided against itself. Its function is rather to draw together things divided; and it is far from dividing those that are joined. Now, if that remained in you, as I have said, it would not keep silent, it would not rest unconcerned, nor pretend indifference, but it would without doubt whisper with groans and uneasiness at the bottom of your pious heart that saying, Who is offended, and I burn not (2 Cor. xi. 29). If, then, it is kind, it loves peace, and rejoices in unity; it produces them, cements them, strengthens them, and wherever it reigns it makes the bond of peace. As, then, you are in opposition to that true mother of peace and concord, on what ground, I ask you, do you presume that your sacrifice, whatever it may be, will be accepted by God, when without it even martyrdom profiteth nothing (1 Cor. xiii. 3)? Or, on what ground do you trust that you are not the enemy of charity when breaking unity, rending the bond of peace, you lacerate her bowels, treating with such cruelty their dear pledges, which you neither have borne nor do bear? You must lay down, then, the offering, whatever it may be, which you are preparing to lay on the altar, and hasten to go and reconcile yourself not with one of your brethren only, but with the entire body. The whole body of the fraternity, grievously wounded by your withdrawal, as by the stroke of a sword, utters its complaints against you and the few with you, saying: The sons of my mother have fought against me (Cant. i. 5). And rightly; for who is not with her, is against her. Can you think that a mother, as tender as charity, can hear without emotion the complaint, so just, of a community which is to her as a daughter? Therefore, joining her tears with ours, she says, have nourished and brought up children, and they have rebelled against me (Isa. i. 2). Charity is God Himself. Christ is our peace, who hath made both one (Eph. ii. 14). Unity is the mystery even of the Holy Trinity. What place, then, in the kingdom of Christ and of God has he who is an enemy of charity, peace, and unity?
2. My abbot, perhaps you will say, has obliged me to follow him—ought I then to have been disobedient? But you cannot have forgotten the conclusion to which we came one day after a long discussion together upon that scandalous project which even then you were meditating. If you had remained in that conclusion, now it might have been not unfitly said of you, Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly (Ps. i. i). But let it be so. Sons ought, no doubt, to obey a father; scholars a teacher. An abbot may lead his monks where he shall please, and teach them what he thinks proper; but this is only as long as he lives. Now that he is dead, whom you were bound to hear as a teacher and to follow as a guide, why are you still delaying to make amends for the grave scandal that you have occasioned? What hinders you now to give ear, I do not say to me when I recall you, but to our God, when He mercifully does so by the mouth of Jeremiah, Shall they fall and not arise? Shall he turn away and not return? (Jer. viii. 4). Or has your abbot, when dying, forbidden you ever to rise again after your fall, or ever to speak of your return? Is it necessary for you to obey him even when dead—to obey him against charity and at the peril of your soul? You would allow, I suppose, that the bond between an abbot and his monks is by no means so strong or tenacious as that of married persons, whom God Himself and not man has bound with an inviolable sacrament—as the Saviour says: What God hath joined together let no man put asunder (S. Matt. xix. 6). But the Apostle asserts that when the husband is dead the wife is freed from the law of her husband (Rom. vii. 2), and do you consider yourself bound by the law of your dead abbot, and this against a law which is more binding still, that of charity?
4. To make this principle clear, we must note that some actions are wholly good, others wholly evil: and in these no obedience is to be rendered to men. For the former are not to be omitted by us, even if they are prohibited [by men]: nor the latter done, even though they are commanded. But, besides these, there are actions between the two, and which may be good or evil according to circumstances of place, time, manner, or person, and in these obedience has its place, as it was in the matter of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which was in the midst of Paradise. When these are in question, it is not right to prefer our own judgment to that of our superiors, so as to take no heed of what they order or forbid. Let us see whether it be not such a case that I have condemned in you, and whether you ought not to be condemned. For clearness, I will subjoin examples of the distinction which I have just made. Faith, hope, charity, and others of that class are wholly good; it cannot be wrong to command, or to practise them, nor right to forbid them, or to neglect the practice of them. Theft, sacrilege, adultery, and all other such vices are wholly evil; it can never be right to practise or to order them, nor wrong to forbid or avoid them. The law is not made for things of this kind, for the prohibition of no person has the power to render null the commandments given, nor the command of any to render lawful the things prohibited. There are, finally, things of a middle kind which are not in themselves good or evil; they may be indifferently either prescribed or forbidden, and in these things an inferior never sins in obeying. Such are, for example, fasting, watching, reading, and such like. But some things which are of this middle kind often pass the bounds of indifferency, and become the one or the other. Thus, marriage is neither prescribed nor forbidden, but when it is made may not be dissolved. That, therefore, which before the nuptials was a thing of the middle kind obtains the force of a thing wholly good in regard to the married pair. Also, it is a thing indifferent for a man in secular life to possess or not to possess property of his own; but to a monk, who is not allowed to possess anything, it is wholly evil.
5. Do you see now, brother, to which branch of my division your action belongs? If it is to be put among things wholly good it is praiseworthy: if among those wholly evil it is greatly to be blamed: but if it is to be placed among those of the middle kind you may, perhaps, find in your obedience an excuse for your first departure, but your delay in returning is not at all excusable, since that was not from obedience. For when your abbot was dead, if he had previously ordered anything which was not fitting, the former discussion has shown you that you were no longer bound to obey him. And although the matter is now sufficiently clear by itself, yet because of some who seek for occasion to object when reason does not support them, I will put the matter clearly again, so that every shade of doubt may disappear, and I will show you that your obedience and your leaving your monastery were neither wholly good nor partly good, but plainly wholly evil. Concerning him who is dead, I am silent; he has now God alone for his judge, and to his own Lord he either stands or falls; that God may not say with righteous anger, "Men have taken away from me even the right to judge." However, for the instruction of the living I discuss, not even what he has done, but what he has ordered; whether, that is to say, his order ought to have been obligatory, inasmuch as a widespreading scandal has followed upon it. And I say this first; that if there are any who followed him when he wrongly left his cloister, but who followed in simplicity, and without suspecting any evil, supposing that he had license to go forth from the Bishop of Langres and the Abbot of Citeaux (for to each of these was he responsible); and it is not incredible that some of those who were of his company may so have believed; this, my censure, does not touch them, provided that when they knew the truth, they returned without delay.
6. Therefore my discourse is against those only, or rather for those, who knowingly and purposely put their hands into the fire; who being conscious of his presumption, yet followed him who presumed, without caring for the prohibition of the Apostle, and his precept, to withdraw from every brother who walks disorderly (2 Thess. iii. 6). Despising also the voice of the Lord himself, He u<ho gathercth not with me scattereth (S. Matt. xii. 30). To you, brethren, belongs clearly and specially that reproach spoken by Jeremiah, which I recall with grief: This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the Lord their God (Jer. vii. 28). For clearly that is the Voice of God pointing out His enemy from the work that he does, and, as it were, showing him with a stretched ringer to ward off simple souls from his ungodly example: He who is not with Me, He says, scatters; ought you to have followed a disperser? And when God invites you to unite with Him, ought you rather to follow a man who wishes to disperse you? He scorned his superiors, he exposed his inferiors to danger, he deeply troubled his brethren, and yet ye seeing a thief joined yourself with him! I had determined to be silent concerning him who is dead, but I am obliged, I confess, to proceed still a little further, since I cannot blame your obedience, if his command is not shown to be altogether improper. Since the orders and the actions of the man were similar to each other, it seems impossible to praise or to blame the one without the other. Now it is very clear that orders of that kind ought not to have been obeyed, since they were contrary to the law of God. For who can suppose that the institutions of our Fathers are not to be preferred to those of lesser persons, or that the general rules of the Order must not prevail over the commands of private persons? For we have this in the Rule of S. Benedict.
7. I should be able, indeed, to bring forward the Abbot of Citeauxasa witness, who, as being superior to your abbot as a father to a son, as a master to a disciple, and, in a word, as an abbot to a monk committed to his charge, rightly complains that you have held him in contempt because of the other. I might speak also of the Bishop, whose consent was not waited for, a contempt which was inexcusable, since the Lord says of such and to such: He who despises you despises Me (S. Luke x. 16). But as to both these might be opposed and preferred the authority of the Roman Pontiff as more weighty: by whose license it is said that you have taken care to secure yourselves (the question of that license shall be discussed in its proper place), [see below, No. 9], I rather bring forward such an one as you dare not set yourself against. Most surely He is the Supreme Pontiff, who by His own blood entered in once and alone into the Holy Place to obtain eternal redemption (Heb. ix. 12), and denounces with a terrible voice, in the Gospel, that none should dare to give scandal to even the least of His little ones (S. Matt, xviii. 6). I should say nothing if the evil had not proceeded farther. An easy forgiveness would follow a fault which has no grave consequences. But at present there is no doubt that you have preferred the commands of a man to that of God, and have thus scandalized very many. What man of any sense would say that such an audacious act was good, or could become good, by the direction of any man, whatever his dignity? And if it is not good, nor can become good, without doubt it is wholly evil. Whence it follows that since your withdrawal was to the scandal of many, and by this contrary to the law of God, since it is neither wholly good nor even of a middle kind, it is, therefore, wholly and altogether evil; because that which is wholly is always such, and that of a middle kind can become so.
8. How then can either the permission of your abbot avail to make that permissible which is (as we have already shown beyond question) wholly evil, since (as we have said above) things of this kind, that is things purely evil, can never be rightly ordered nor permissibly done? Do you see how futile is the excuse you draw from obedience to a man when you are convicted of a transgression against God? I hardly suppose that you would resort to that reply of the Lord respecting the scandal given to the Pharisees, Let them alone, they be blind leaders of the blind (S. Matt, xv. 14), and that as He attached no value to their objections, so you attach no value to ours; for you know that there is no comparison in this respect between Him and you. But if you make comparison of persons, you find that on one side it is the proud Pharisees who are scandalized, on the other the poor of Jesus Christ; and as to the cause of the scandal, in the one case it is presumption, in the other truth. Again, as I have shown above, you have not only preferred a human to a Divine command, but that of a private person to a public rule, and this alone would suffice for proof; but the custom and Rule, not only of our Order, but of all monasteries, seems to cry out against your unexampled innovation and unparalleled presumption.
9. You had then just reason to fear, and were rightly distrustful of the goodness of your cause when, in order to still the pangs of your consciences, you tried to have recourse to the Holy See. O, vain remedy! which is nothing else than to seek girdles, like our first parents, for your ulcerated consciences, that is, to hide the ill instead of curing it. We. have asked and obtained (they say) the permission of the Pope. Would that you had asked not his permission, but his advice; that is to say, not that he would permit you to do it, but whether it was a thing permitted to you to do! Why, then, did you solicit his permission? Was it to render lawful that which was not so? Then you wished to do what was not lawful; but what was not lawful was evil. The intention, therefore, was evil, which tended towards evil. Perhaps you would say that the wrong thing which you demanded permission to do ceased to be such if it was done by virtue of a permission. But that has been already excluded above by an irrefragable reason. For when God said, Do not despise one of these little ones who believe in Me, He did not add also, Unless with permission; nor when He said, Take care not to give scandal to one of these little ones (S. Matt, xviii. 6-10), did He limit it by adding, Without licence. It is then certain that except when the necessary interests of the truth require, it is not permitted to anyone to give any scandal, neither to order it, nor to consent to it. Yet you think that permission is to be obtained to do so. But to what purpose? Was it that you might sin with more liberty and fewer scruples, and, therefore, with just so much the more danger? Wonderful precaution, marvellous prudence! They had already devised evil in their heart, but they were cautious not to carry it out in action except with permission. They conceived in sorrow, but they did not bring forth iniquity until the Pope had afforded his consent to that unrighteous birth. With what advantage? or, at least, with what lessening of the evil? Is it likely that either an evil will cease to be or even be rendered less because the Pope has consented to it? But who will deny it to be a bad thing to give consent to evil? Which, notwithstanding, I do not in any way believe that the Pope would have done, unless he had been either deceived by falsehood or overcome by importunity. In fact, unless it had been so, would he weakly have given you permission to sow scandal, to raise up schisms, to distress friends, to trouble the peace of brethren, to throw into confusion their unity, and, above all, to despise your own Bishop? And under what necessity he should have acted thus I have no need to say, since the issue of the matter sufficiently shows. For I see with grief that YOU have gone forth, but I do not see that you have profited in doing so.
10. Thus, in your opinion, to give assent to so great and weighty evils is to show obedience, to render assistance, to behave with moderation and gentleness. Do you* then, endeavour to whitewash the most detestable vices under the name of virtues? Or do you think that you can injure virtues without doing injury to the Lord of virtues? You hide the vainest presumption, the most shameful levity, the cruellest division under the names of obedience, moderation, gentleness, and you soil those sacred names with the vices hidden under them. May I never emulate this obedience: such moderation can never be pleasing to me, or rather seems to resemble molestation; may gentleness of this kind ever be far from me. Such obedience is worse than any revolt: such moderation passes all bounds. Shall I say that it goes beyond them or does not come up to them? Perhaps it would be more adequate to say that it is altogether without measure or bound. Of what kind is that gentleness which irritates the ears of all the hearers? And yet I beg you to show some sign of it now on my behalf. Since you are so patient that you do not contend with anybody, even with one who tries to drag you away to forbidden ground, permit me, too, I beg of you, to treat with you now somewhat more unrestrainedly. Otherwise I have merited much evil from you if you think that you must resent from me alone what you are accustomed to resent from no one else.
11. Well, then, I call your own conscience to witness. Was it willingly or unwillingly that you went forth? If willingly, then it was not from obedience. If unwillingly, you seem to have had some suspicion of the order which you carried out with reluctance. But when there is suspicion, there consideration is necessary. But you, either to display your patience or to exercise it, obeyed without discussion, and suffered yourself to be taken away, not only without your own volition, but even against your conscience. O, patience worthy of all impatience! 1 cannot, I confess, help being angry with this most questionable patience. You saw that he was a scatterer and yet you followed him; you heard him directing what was scandalous and yet you obeyed him! True patience consists in doing or in suffering what is displeasing to us, not what is forbidden to us. A strange thing! You listened to that man softly murmuring, but not to God openly protesting in such words as these, like a clap of thunder from heaven, Woe to him through whom scandal cometh (S. Matt. xviii. 7). And to be the better heard, not only does the Lord Himself cry aloud, but His Blood cries with a terrible voice to make even the deaf hear. Its pouring forth is its cry. Since it was poured forth for the children of God who were scattered abroad that it might gather them together into one, it justly murmurs against the scatterers. He whose constant duty it is to collect souls together hates without doubt those who scatter them. Loud is His voice and piercing which calls bodies from their graves and souls from Hades. That trumpet blast calls together heaven and earth and the things that are with them, giving them peace. Its sound has gone out unto the whole world, and yet it has not been able to burst through your deafness! What a voice of power and magnificence when the words are spoken: Let the Lord arise and let His enemies be scattered (Ps. Ixviii. 2). And again: Disperse them by Thy power, O Lord, my protector, and put them down (Ps. lix. 12). It is the blood of Christ, brother Adam, which raises its voice as a sounding trumpet on behalf of pious assemblies against wicked scatterers; it has been poured forth to bring together those who were dispersed, and it threatens to disperse those who scatter. If you do not hear His voice, then listen to that which rolls from His side. For how could He not hear His own blood who heard the blood of Abel?
12. But what is this to me? you say. It concerns one whom it was not right for me to contradict. The disciple is not above his master; and it was to be taught, not to teach, that I attached myself to him. As a hearer, it became me to follow, not to go before, my preceptor. O, simple one, the Paulus of these times! If only he had shown himself another Antony, so that you had no occasion to discuss the least word that fell from his lips, but only to obey it without hesitation! What exemplary obedience! The least word, an iota, which drops from the lips of his superiors finds him obedient! He does not examine what is enjoined, he is content because it is enjoined! And this is obedience without delay. If this is a right view of duty, then without cause do we read in the Church: Prove all things, hold fast that which is good (1 Thess. v. 21). If this is a right view, let us blot out of the book of the Gospel Be ye wise as serpents, for the words following would suffice, and harmless as doves (S. Matt. x. 16). I do not say that inferiors are to make themselves judges of the orders of those set over them, in which it may be taken for granted that nothing is ordered contrary to the Divine laws, but I assert that prudence also is necessary to notice if anything does so contradict, and freedom firmly to pronounce against these. But you reply, I have nothing to do with examining what he orders; it is his duty to do that before ordering. Tell me, I pray you, if a sword were put into your hand and he bade you turn it against his throat, would you obey? Or if he ordered you to fling yourself headlong into the fire, or into the water, would you do it? If you did not even hinder him from such acts as these to the best of your ability, would not you be held guilty of the crime of homicide? Come, then, see that you have done nothing but co-operate in his crime under the pretext of obedience. Do you not know that it has been said by a certain person (for you would not, perhaps, give credence to me) that it would be better to be sunk in the depths of the sea than to give scandals (S. Matt, xviii. 6). Why has He said this unless that He wished to signify that in comparison to the terrible punishments that are reserved for the scandalous, temporal death would seem scarcely a punishment but an advantage? Why, then, did you help him to make a scandal? For you did so in following and obeying him. Would it not have been better, according to the declaration of the Truth I have quoted, to hang a millstone from his neck and so to plunge him in the depth of the sea? What then? You that were so obedient a disciple, who could not bear that he, your father and master, should be separated from you for a single instant, for a foot breadth (as it is said), you have not hesitated to fall into the ditch behind him with your eyes wide open, like another Balaam? Did you think that you were labouring for his happiness when you showed toward him an obedience more hurtful for him than death? Truly, now, I experience how true is that saying: A man's foes shall be they of his own household (Micah vii. 6). If you see and feel this, do you not groan if you perceive what you have done? And if you do perceive, do you not tremble? For, indeed, your obedience (it is not my judgment, but that of the Truth Himself) has been worse for him than death.
13. If you are now convinced of this, I do not know how you can help trembling and hastening to repair your fault. Otherwise what conscience of wrong will you carry hence to that terrible tribunal where the Judge will not need witness, where the Truth will scan even purposes, and penetrate in search of faults to the hidden places of the heart, where, in short, that Divine look will try the most secret recesses of minds, and at the sudden shining of that Sun of justice all the windings of human souls will be spread open and give to the light whatever, whether good or evil, they were hiding? Then, brother Adam, those who commit a sin, and those who consent to it will be punished with equal chastisement. Then thieves and the associates of thieves will listen to a similar sentence; the seducers and the seduced will undergo an equal judgment. Cease, then, to say again, What is it to me? Let him see to it. Can you touch pitch and say I am not defiled? Can you hide fire in your bosom and not be burned? Can you have your portion with adulterers without resembling them in some respect? Isaiah did not think so, for he reproached himself not only because he was himself unclean, but also because he was the companion of the unclean: Because, he says, am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips (Isaiah vi. 5). For he blames himself not because he dwelt among sinners, but because he has not condemned their sins. For, so he says: Woe is me because I have been silent (Isaiah vi. 5, VULG.). But when did he consent to the doing of evil, that he blames himself not to have condemned it in others? And did not David also feel that he was defiled by the contact of sin when he said: With men that work iniquity, and I will not communicate with their chosen friends (Ps. cxl. 4, VULG.). Or when he made this prayer: Cleanse me O Lord from my secret sins, and spare Thy servant from the offences of others (Ps. xix. 12-13, VULG.). Wherefore he strove to avoid the society of sinners in order not to share in their faults. For he says farther: have not sat in the council of vanity, and I will not enter into the company of those who do unjustly (Ps. xxv. 4-5, VULG.). And then he adds: 7 have hated the congregation of evil doers, and will not sit with the wicked (ibid.}. Finally, hear the counsel of the wise man: My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not (Prov. i. 10).
14. Have you, then, against these and innumerable other and similar testimonies of the truth, thought that you ought to obey anybody? O, odious perversity! The virtue of obedience which always wars on behalf of truth, is arrayed against truth. Happy the disobedience of brother Henry, who soon repenting of his error and retracing his steps, has the happiness of not persisting longer in such an obedience. The fruits of disobedience are sweeter and to be preferred [to this; and now he tastes them with a good conscience in the peaceable and constant practice of the duties of his profession in the midst of his brethren, and in the bosom of the Order to which he has devoted himself; while some of his former companions are breaking the hearts of their ancient brethren by the scandals they are making! Whose disobedience of slackness and omission, if the choice were given me, I would even prefer, with his sense of penitence, than the punctilious obedience of such as these, with scandal. For I consider that he does better for the keeping unity in the bond of peace who obeys charity, though disobedient to his abbot, than those who so defer to a single man as to prefer one to the whole body. I might boldly add even this, that it is preferable to risk disobedience to one person than to endanger the vows of our own profession and all the other advantages of religion.
15. Since, not to speak of other obligations, there are two principal ones to be observed by all dwellers in a monastery, obedience to the abbot and stability or constancy. But one of these ought not to be fulfilled to the prejudice of the other, so that you should thus show yourself constant in your place as not to be above being subject to the superior, and so obey the superior as not to lose constancy. Thus if you would disapprove of a monk, however constant in his cloister, who was too proud to obey the orders of his superior, can you wonder that we blame an obedience which served you as the cause or occasion for deserting your place, especially when in making a religious profession constancy is vowed in such a way as not to be at all subordinated to the will of the abbot under whom a monk may be placed.
16. But perhaps you may turn what I say against me, asking what I have done with the constancy which ought to have kept me at Citeaux, whereas I now dwell elsewhere. To which I reply, I am, indeed, a Cistercian monk professed in that place, and was sent forth by my abbot to where I now dwell, but sent forth in peace without scandal, without disorder, according to our usages and constitutions. As long, therefore, as I persevere in the same peace and concord in which I was sent forth, as long as I stand fast in unity, I do not prefer my private interests to those of the community. I remain peaceful and obedient in the place where I have been posted. I say that my conscience is at peace, because I observe faithfully the stability I have promised. How do I compromise my vow of stability when I do not break the bond of concord, nor desert the firm ground of peace? If obedience keeps my body far distant from Citeaux, the offering of the same devotions and a manner of life in every way similar hold my spirit always present there. But the day on which I shall begin to live, according to other laws (which may God avert), to practise other customs, to perform different observances, to introduce novelties and customs from without, I shall be a transgressor of my vows, and I shall no longer think that I am observing the constancy that I promised. I say, then, that an abbot ought to be obeyed in all things, but saving the oath of the Order. But you having made profession, according to the Rule of S. Benedict, where you promised obedience, you promised also constancy. And if you have, indeed, obeyed, but have not been constant by offending in one point, you are made an offender in all, and if in all, then in obedience itself.
17. Do you see, then, the proper scope of your obedience? How can it excuse your want of constancy, which is not even of weight to justify itself? Everyone knows that a person makes his profession solemnly and regularly in the presence of the abbot. That profession is made, therefore, in his presence only, not at his discretion also. The abbot is employed as the witness, and not the arbiter of the profession; the helper of its fulfilment, not an assistant to the breach of it; to punish and not to authorize bad faith. What, then? Do I place in the hand of the abbot the vows that I have taken, without exception ratified by my mouth and signed by my hand in presence of God and His Saints? Do I not hear out of the Rule (Rule of S. Benedict C. 58) that if I ever do otherwise I shall be condemned by God, whom I have mocked? If my abbot or even an angel from heaven should order me to do something contrary to my vow, I would boldly refuse an obedience of this kind, which would make me a transgressor of my own oath and make me swear falsely by the name of my God, for I know, according to the truth of Scripture, that out of my own mouth I must either be condemned or justified (S. Luke xix. 22), and because The mouth which lies slays the soul (Wisd. i. u), and that we chant with truth before God, Thou wilt destroy all those who speak falsehood (Ps. v. 6), and because everyone shall bear his own burden (Gal. vi. 5), and everyone shall give account of himself to God (Rom. xiv. 12). If it were otherwise with me, with what front could I dare to lie in the presence of God and His angels, when singing that verse from the Psalm: will render unto Thee my vows, which my lips have uttered (Ps. Ivi. 13, 14).
In fact, the abbot himself ought to consider the advice which the Rule gives, addressing itself to him in particular, "that he should maintain the present Rule in all respects," and also, which is universally directed, and no exception made, "that all should follow the Rule as guide and mistress, nor is it to be rashly deviated from by any" (Rule of S. Bened. capp. Ixiv. 3). Thus I have determined to follow him as master always and everywhere, but on the condition never to deviate from the authority of the Rule, which, as he himself is witness, I have sworn and determined to keep.
18. Let me, briefly, treat another objection which may possibly be made to me, and I will bring to a close an epistle which is already too long. It seems that I may be reproached with acting otherwise than I speak. For I may be asked, if I condemn those who have deserted their monastery, not only with the consent of their abbot, but at his command, on what principle do I receive and retain those who from other monasteries, who, breaking their vow of constancy and contemning the authority of their superiors, come to our Order? To which my reply will be brief, but dangerous; for I fear that what I shall say will displease certain persons. But I fear still more lest by concealing the truth I should sing untruly in the Church those words of the Psalmist: have not hid my righteousness within my heart: my talk hath been of Thy truth and of Thy salvation (Ps. xl. 12). I receive them, then, for this reason, because I do not consider that they are wrong to quit the monastery, in which they were able, indeed, to make vows to God, but by no means to perform them, to enter into another house where they may better serve God, Who is everywhere, and who repair the wrong done by the breach of their vow of constancy by the perfect performance of all other duties of the religious life. If this displeases any one, and he murmurs against a man thus seeking his own salvation, the Author of salvation Himself shall reply for him: Is thine eye evil because, he is good? (S. Matt. xx. 15). Whosoever thou art who enviest the salvation of another, care rather for thine own. Dost thou not know that by the envy of the devil death entered into the world? (Wisd. ii. 24). Take heed, therefore, to thyself. For if there is envy there is death; surely, thou canst not both be envious and live. Why seek a quarrel with thy brother, since he seeks only the best means of fulfilling the vows which he has made? If the man seeks in what place or in what manner he may best discharge what he has promised to God, what wrong has he done to you? Perhaps, if you held him your debtor for a sum of money, however small, you would oblige him to compass sea and dry land until he rendered you the whole debt, even to the last farthing. What, then, has your God deserved from you that you are not willing for Him, too, to receive what is due? But in envying one you render two hostile; since you are trying both to defraud the lord of the service due from his servant, and to deprive the servant of the favour of his lord. Wherefore do you not imitate him, and yourself discharge what is due from you? Do you think that your debt, too, will not be required of you? Or do you not rather fear to irritate God against you the more by wickedly saying in your heart, He will not require it?
all confidence, not to keep longer in suspense, at the great peril of your own soul, the souls of those who are desiring and awaiting your return. You hold now in your hands (if I do not mistake) both your own eternal life and death, and theirs who are with you; for I judge that whatever you decide or do they will do also. Otherwise, announce to them the grave judgment which has been rightly passed with respect to them by all the Abbots of our Order. Those who return shall live, those who resist shall die.
1. Si maneres in charitate, quam in te olim aut novimus aut putavimus, charitatis profecto damna sentires, quae utique sunt scandala pusillorum. Nec enim charitas charitatem offenderet aut contemneret, cum sentiret offensam. Nam se ipsam non potest negare, nec enim in se divisa est. Novit potius in se divisa conjungere: conjuncta dividere nescit. Proinde, ut dixi, si maneret in te, non sileret, non quiesceret, non dissimularet, gemens et aestuans, et intra pium pectus tuum procul dubio submurmurans illud: Quis scandalizatur, et ego non uror? Siquidem benigna est, pacem diligit, congaudet unitati. Sola quippe est quae illam generat, colligat, solidat, et conservat ubicunque servari cognoscitur in vinculo pacis. Infensa ergo vobis hac tam honorabili matre unitatis et pacis, quo pacto, quaeso, vestrum quodcunque sacrificium Deo fore acceptum praesumitis, cum absque illa nec martyrium quidem aliquid esse putet Apostolus? Aut qua ratione vobis forte infensam non esse confiditis, cujus castis visceribus, cujus charis pignoribus tam inhumane agendo non pepercistis nec parcitis, scindentes unitatem, rumpentes vinculum pacis? Ponendum est ergo munus quodcumque offerre paratis, et prius habenti adversum vos, non fratri, sed fratrum multitudini reconciliandum. Ecce nimirum universae fraternitatis unitas adversum vestram paucitatem, quodam veluti vestri discessus gladio sauciata conqueritur, quasi quae plangens miserabiliter dicat: Filii matris meae pugnaverunt contra me. Et merito: qui enim non est cum illa, contra illam est. Putas sine gemitu tam justum filiae gemitum pia possit mater charitas audire? Ideo et ipsa nostris lacrymis jungens suas, ait de vobis: Filios enutrivi et exaltavi, ipsi autem spreverunt me. Charitas ipse Deus est. Pax nostra Christus, qui fecit utraque unum. In trinitate unitas maxime commendatur. Cui ergo charitas, pax et unitas irata cognoscitur, quid habet in regno Christi et Dei?
2. Sed forsitan dicis: Abbas noster abduxit nos, et secum ire praecepit; num inobedientes esse debuimus? Scis quidem, nisi forte oblitus sis, quid quadam die, communicato mecum jam conspirati scandali consilio, ac diligenter mutua collatione discusso, inter nos convenerit. In quo si permansisses, et de te illud non incongrue diceretur: Beatus vir qui non abiit in concilio impiorum. Sed esto. Debuistis obedire filii patri, magistrum sequi discipuli. Licuerit certe abbati monachos suos ducere quo libuerit, et docere quod voluerit: sed quandiu vixit. Nunc vero mortuo illo, quem vel audire doctorem, vel sequi ducem cogimini, quo adhuc tam grave scandalum emendare cunctemini? Quis jam prohibet, non dico me, sed Deum nostrum per os Jeremiae benigne vos revocantem audire? Ait enim: Nunquid qui cecidit, non resurget? aut qui aversus est non revertetur? An et ille moriens interdixit, ne vel post casum tentetis resurgere, post aversionem mutire audeatis de reversione? Itane etiam defuncto necesse est vos obedire, et obedire contra charitatem, obedire in vestrae ipsorum salutis periculum? Sed arbitror quod nequaquam firmius seu tenacius dices esse vinculum abbatum ad subditos, quam conjugum ad se ipsos, quorum quippe Deus copulam, et non homo, inviolabili ligavit sacramento, loquente Salvatore: Quod Deus conjunxit, homo non separet. Apostolo autem asserente, solutam esse mulierem a lege viri mortuo illo; tu te abbatis existimas defuncti lege teneri, et hoc contra legem quae sanction est, legem videlicet charitatis?
3. Et haec dixi, non quod putem vos vel viventi in hoc paruisse debere, aut vel dicendam esse obedientiam sic paruisse. Alioquin generalis de hujusmodi illa sententia est: Declinantes autem in obligationes adducet Dominus cum operantibus iniquitatem. At ne forte quis abbatum etiam in malo obedientiam ab hoc maledicto liberam esse contendat, audi alibi apertius: Filius non portabit iniquitatem patris, et pater non portabit iniquitatem filii. Ex his ergo liquido apparet, mala imperantibus non esse parendum, praesertim dum pravis obtemperans imperiis, in quo homini videris obediens, Deo plane, qui omne quod perperam agitur interdixit, inobedientem te exhibes. Valde autem perversum est profiteri te obedientem, in quo nosceris superiorem propter inferiorem, id est divinam propter humanam, solvere obedientiam. Quid enim? quod jubet homo, prohibet Deus; et ego audiam hominem surdus Deo? Non sic Apostoli. Clamant quippe dicentes: Melius est obedire Deo, quam hominibus. Hinc Dominus in Evangelio Pharisaeos increpans: Quare ei vos, inquit, transgredimini mandatum Dei propter traditiones vestras? Et per Isaiam: Sine causa autem, ait, colunt me, mandata et doctrinas hominum tenentes. Et item ad Protoplastum: Pro eo quod obedisti voci uxoris tuae plus quam meae, maledicta terra in opere tuo. Igitur facere malum, quolibet etiam jubente, constat non esse obedientiam, sed potius inobedientiam.
4. Sane hoc advertendum, quod quaedam sunt pura bona: quaedam pura mala, et in his nullam deberi hominibus obedientiam: quoniam nec illa omittenda sunt, etiam cum prohibentur; nec ista, vel cum jubentur, committenda. Porro inter haec sunt media quaedam, quae pro modo, loco, tempore vel persona, et mala possunt esse, et bona: et in his lex posita est obedientiae, tanquam in ligno scientiae boni et mali, quod erat in medio paradisi. In his profecto fas non est nostrum sensum sententiae praescribere magistrorum: in his omnino praelatorum nec jussio, nec prohibitio contemnenda. Videamus ne forte tale fuerit quod arguimus in vobis; et ob hoc forsitan argui non debuerit. Quod evidentius elucebit, si praemissae divisionis exempla subjecero. Fides, spes, charitas, et caetera hujusmodi, pura sunt bona: quae quia male non possunt vel juberi vel teneri, bene non possunt vel prohiberi vel non teneri. Pura mala sunt furtum, sacrilegium, adulterium, et caetera talia, quae utique nec vel bene praecipi vel perfici possunt, nec male prohiberi vel non fieri. Adversus hujusmodi non est lex. Nullius quippe prohibitio valet obviare praeceptis: nullius jussio praejudicare prohibitis. Sunt deinde media, quae quidem per se nec bona esse noscuntur, nec mala: possunt tamen indifferenter et bene pariter et male vel prohiberi, vel juberi, sed male nullatenus in his a subditis obediri. Ex his sunt, ut exempli gratia ponam, jejunare, vigilare, legere, et quaeque talia. Sciendum vero quia media quaedam in purorum plerumque bonorum seu malorum transeunt rationem. Nam conjugium cum et fieri liceat, et non fieri, factum jam solvi non licet. Quod ergo ante nuptias medium esse liquebat, in jam conjugatis puri boni vim obtinet. Item propria possidere, saeculari quidem homini medium est, quoniam et non possidere licet: monacho vero quia possidere non licet, purum malum est.
5. Videsne jam, frater, vestrum factum cui potissimum membro divisionis conveniat? Si puris aptandum bonis, probabile est: si puris malis deputandum, vituperabile est: sin vero collocandum inter media: via quidem excusari forsitan potest propter obedientiam, mora vero penitus non potest, quae non fit per obedientiam. Nam mortuo jam abbati, si quid ante jussit quod non debuit, nequaquam esse parendum, superior patefecit disputatio. Et si res per se jam satis elucescat, tamen propter quosdam qui quaerunt occasionem, ubi ratio non suppeditat, clarum faciam breviter, et ita clarum ut omnis dubietatis umbra dispareat; quod nec purum, nec medium bonum, sed plane purum fuerit malum sic obedisse, sic vestrum monasterium reliquisse. Et quidem taceo de mortuo, qui suum et solum jam judicem habet Deum, et vere nunc suo domino aut stat aut cadit: ne forte indignans, et merito indignans dicat Deus: Tulerunt omnes a me judicium. Tamen ad correctionem viventium, non quidem quod gessit, sed quod jussit discutio; utrum videlicet illa jussio vim habere debuerit, quatenus in scandalum multorum ei fuerit obsequendum. Et praemittendum, quod si qui simpliciter, nihilque suspicantes mali, male licet proficiscentem secuti sunt, putantes eum episcopi Lingonensis et abbatis Cisterciensis (nam utrique debitor erat) licentia proficisci (quod utique nonnullos de illo comitatu sic credidisse incredibile non est); nostra haec illos non tangit reprehensio, dummodo ubi compererint, sine mora regrediantur.
6. Igitur adversus illos tantum, imo pro illis sermo est nobis, qui scientes et prudentes miserunt manus in ignem, qui conscii praesumptionis secuti sunt praesumptorem; non audientes Apostolum prohibentem et denuntiantem, ut se ab omni fratre ambulante inordinate subtraherent; contemnentes et ipsius Domini vocem dicentis: Qui non colligit mecum, dispergit. Vos, fratres, vos, inquam, aperte et specialiter notat illud apud Jeremiam, quod cum dolore quidem reminiscor, opprobrium. Haec est, inquit, gens quae non audivit vocem Dei sui. Dei enim proprie vox est ista, hostem suum proprio designantis ex officio, et tanquam digito demonstrantis, ut simplices ab ejus impio deterreat consectatu: Qui non est, inquit, mecum, dispergit: ac si dicat, In hoc te jam mecum non esse intelligas, si sequeris dispersorem. Deo ergo clamante, Qui non colligit mecum, dispergit; sequi vos oportuit dispersorem? Deo, inquam, vos invitante ad colligendum, homini potius ad dispergendum obsequi debebatis? Magistros contemnebat, subditos exponebat, socios conturbabat; et vos videntes furem currebatis cum eo! Silere de mortuo statueram: sed compulsus sum, fateor, aliquantulum praetergredi, dum non potuit improbari obeditio, si non reproba monstraretur et jussio. Porro jussio et actio hominis cum diversa non fuerint, impossibile visum est unam sine altera vel approbari, vel respui. Liquet tamen hujuscemodi jussioni non fuisse obtemperandum, Deo quippe imperante contraria. Item majorum institutis, minorum non esse praeponenda, aut communibus privata non praejudicare imperia quis dubitat? Nam ex Regula sancti Benedicti hoc habemus.
7. Possem quidem abbatem Cisterciensem ad medium deducere, qui utique superior illo quantum pater filio, quantum magister discipulo, quantum denique abbas commisso sibi monacho, merito se a vobis propter ipsum queritur fuisse contemptum. Possem et episcopum, cujus nihilominus quia non fuit exspectatus consensus, inexcusabilis est et contemptus, cum ad ipsos et de ipsis Dominus dicat: Qui vos spernit, me spernit. Sed quoniam his posset ambobus opponi et anteponi Romani pontificis tanquam gravior auctoritas; cujus quippe vos aiunt praemuntios fuisse licentia (quae et ipsa licentia suo quidem loco erit discutienda; talis potius proferatur, cujus omnino fas non sit auctoritati contradicere. Certe summus ille Pontifex qui per sanguinem proprium solus et semel introivit in sancta, aeterna redemptione inventa terrifica voce denuntiat in Evangelio, ne quis unum de pusillis ejus audeat scandalizare. Vobis autem unius donetur scandalum, si non ultra processit malum. Facilis sequetur venia culpam, ex qua grave damnum non oritur. Nunc vero quod dubium non est, pluribus scandalizatis, quis aperte non videat quam inhumane humanam jussionem divinae praetuleritis? Quod quidem audere, quis nisi amens dicere audeat bonum esse aut bonum fieri posse, quantaelibet dignitatis homine praecipiente? Quod autem nec bonum est, nec bene fieri potest, purum procul dubio malum est. Unde consequenter advertitur, quod iter vestrum in multorum usurpatum scandalum, ac per hoc et contra Dei mandatum, non purum bonum aut medium, sed purum omnino fuerit malum: quoniam quidem et purum bonum semper bonum est, et medium bene fieri potest.
8. Quomodo ergo vel abbatis jussio, vel Papae permissio licitum facere valuit, quod purum (sicut irrefutabiliter probatum est) malum fuit: cum superius nihilominus allegatum sit, ea quae hujuscemodi sunt, id est pura mala, ut nunquam juste juberi, sic nec licite posset fieri? Vides quam inanis excusatio de humana obedientia, ubi in Deum convincitur facta transgressio? Nec timendum mihi arbitror, quod ad illud Domini responsum de sibi nuntiato scandalo Pharisaeorum refugias, ut quomodo ille nihili pendebat dicens, Sinite illos, caeci sunt, et duces caecorum; ita et nostra vobis scandala non esse timenda existimes. Vides nempe quam nil simile habeat in hac parte proportio. Nam si compares personas, illic Pharisaei superbi, hic pauperes Christi scandalizantur: si causas, hic levitas ibi veritas in causa esse dignoscitur. Rursus, quod et superius propositum est, vos non solum divinis humana, sed et communibus privata praetulisse imperia, hoc solum ad probationem sufficiat, quod vestrae illi et novitati insolitae, et insolenti praesumptioni, non tantum nostri Ordinis universitas, sed etiam omnium monasteriorum et consuetudo, et institutio reclamare videtur.
9. Quod et vos quoque non immerito timentes, nec satis de propria causa confidentes, remorsas ac remordentes conscientias apostolica conati estis delinire licentia. O frivolum satis remedium! quod non est aliud, nisi more Protoplastorum cauteriatis conscientiis texere perizomata, videlicet ad velamentum, non ad medicamentum. Apostolicam, inquiunt, licentiam quaesivimus, impetravimus. Utiam non licentiam quaesissetis, sed consilium; id est, non ut liceret, sed an liceret. Unde tamen quaerebatis licentiam? Ut liceret quod non licebat? Facere itaque volebatis quod non licebat. Sed quod non licebat malum erat. Mala igitur erat intentio, quae in malum tendebat. Nisi forte tale hoc fuisse dicatur, quod absque licentia quidem non liceret, liceret autem si cum licentia fieret. Verum idjam superius invincibili exclusum est ratione. Nec enim Deus ubi ait, Nolite contemnere unum ex iis pusillis qui in me credunt; addidit etiam, Nisi cum licentia, aut dicens: Qui scandalizaverit unum de pusillis meis, et caetera, determinavit subjungens, Sine licentia. Constat igitur ubi veritas, et veritas necessaria in causa non est, nec licite scandalum quodlibet posse a quolibet committi nec juste praecipi, nec innoxie consentiri. Hujus tamen patrandi mali quaerendam putastis esse licentiam. Sed ad quid? An ut quanto licentius, tanto securius; et quo securius, eo et periculosius peccaretis? Mira cautela, et stupenda providentia! Malum quod jam corde conceperant, opere tamen cauti fuerunt non implere nisi cum licentia. Conceperunt dolorem, sed non pepererunt iniquitatem, donec iniquo Papa conceptui praebuisset assensum. Quo lucro? quove saltem compendio mali? Nunquid ideo aut malum esse desiit, aut vel minoratum est, quia Papa concessit? Quis vero malum esse neget, assensum praebere malo? Quod tamen summum fecisse Pontificem nequaquam crediderim, nisi aut circumventum mendacio, aut importunitate victum. Quando etenim aliter hujuscemodi vobis licentiam indulgeret, seminandi videlicet scandala, schismata suscitandi, amicos contristandi, fratrum conturbandi pacem, et confundendi unitatem, propriumque insuper contemnendi episcopum? Et haec qua necessitate, necesse non habeo dicere, cum rei exitus satis indicet. Profectos nempe plangimus, profectum non cernimus.
10. His ergo talibus et tam gravibus malis dare assensum, exhibere obsequium, impendere adjutorium, tu mihi obedientiam nominas, modestiam nuncupas, appellas mansuetudinem? Tu, inquam, conaris pessima vitia virtutum palliare nominibus? An te putas hoc sine injuria facere Domini virtutum, quod virtutibus facis injuriam? Vanissimam praesumptionem, turpissimam levitatem, crudelissimam dissensionem, obedientiae, modestiae, mansuetudinis nominibus velas, et velatis sordibus sacra illa vocabula maculas. Hanc ego nunquam aemuler obedientiam: talem mihi nunquam libeat modestiam, vel potius molestiam, imitari: hujuscemodi mansuetudo semper longe fiat a me. Talis siquidem obedientia omni est contemptu deterior: talis quoque modestia ultra omnem modum extenditur. Ultra dicam, an citra? Sed verius forsitan et utroque competentius dixerim, extra. Qualis denique illa est mansuetudo, quae ipso etiam auditu omnium aures exasperat? Volo tamen eam ipsam ut et mihi modo exhibeas. Cum tam patiens sis, ut a quolibet etiam quo non licet, pertrahi non contendas; liceat et me, obsecro, paulo nunc confidentius agere tecum. Alioquin male multum merui de te, si (quod nemini soles) soli mihi indignandum putaveris.
11. Igitur tuam convenio conscientiam. Volens, an invitus profectus es? Sed si ex voluntate, jam non ex obedientia. Si autem invitus, suspectum videris habuisse imperium, cui obsequi gravabaris. Ubi vero suspicio, ibi discussio necessaria. Verum tu ut tuae patientiae dares vel caperes experimentum; nihil discutiens, trahi te passus es, non solum praeter voluntatem tuam, sed et contra conscientiam. O patientia omni digna impatientia! Non possum, fateor, non irasci huic contentiosissimae patientiae. Videbas dispergentem, et sequebaris: scandala dictantem audiebas, et obsequebaris. Vera patientia est, pati vel agere contra quod libeat: sed non praeter quod liceat. Mirum vero quod hominem audiebas furtive susurrantem, Deum non audiebas aperte reclamantem, tali quasi coelitus emisso tonitru: Vae illi per quem scandalum venit! Non tantum autem Dominus, sed et sanguis ipsius clamore nihilominus, vehementi, surdis licet, terribiliter irrugiebat. Clamor ejus, ejus effusio. Effusus quippe pro dispersis filiis Dei ut eos congregaret in unum, juste fremebat in dispersores. Odit nimirum dispersores, qui non novit nisi colligere. Magnus ejus clamor, et vehemens, qui corpora de sepulcris, animas ab inferis excitavit. Terram coelosque tuba illa convocavit in unum, quippe quae in terra et quae in coelis sunt, pacificans. In omnem terram exivit sonus ille, et vestram non valuit rumpere surditatem? Vox nempe illa in virtute; vox illa in magnificentia. Et quid clamat? Exsurgat Deus, et dissipentur inimici ejus: et iterum: Disperge illos in virtute tua et dispone eos protector meus Domine. Sanguis Christi est, frater Adam, sanguis Christi est qui pro piis congregatis adversus impios dispersores quasi tuba exaltat vocem suam. Minatur autem se dispersores dispergere, qui pro dispersis colligendis effusus est. Et si ejus vocem tu non audis, audit eam de cujus latere manavit. Quomodo namque proprium non audit, qui Abel sanguinem audiebat?.
12. Sed quid ad me, inquis? Ille viderit cui mihi contradicere fas non erat. Non est discipulus super magistrum. Docendus, non docturus, ejus lateri adhaerebam. Sequi debui, non praeire praeceptorem auditor. O istorum temporum Paule simplex, si tamen et ille alterum se tibi exhibuisset Antonium, ut quidquid vel leviter de labiis ejus procederet, necesse non haberes discutere, sed sine cunctatione ad omnia nihil haesitans obedires? O monachum obedientissimum, cui ex quibuslibet seniorum verbulis ne unum quidem iota praetervolet! Non attendit quale sit quod praecipitur, hoc solo contentus quia praecipitur, hoc solo contentus quia praecipitur. Et haec est obedientia sine mora. Si ita oportet, sine causa legitur in Ecclesia: Omnia probate, quod bonum est tenete. Si ita oportet, deleamus jam de libro Evangelii, Estote prudentes sicut serpentes, sufficiente quippe quod sequitur, et simplices sicut columbae. Nec dico a subditis mandata praepositorum esse dijudicanda, ubi nil juberi deprehenditur divinis contrarium institutis: sed necessariam assero et prudentiam, qua advertatur si quid adversatur; et libertatem, qua et ingenue contemnatur. Caeterum iste, Nihil, inquit, habeo interrogare: viderit ille quid jusserit. Dic, quaeso, si dato in manus gladio, suum te armari jussisset in jugulum, acquievisses? aut si se tuo voluisset impulsu in ignem vel in aquam praecipitem dari, obtemperasses? Nonne etiam ab his non prohibere cum possis, in crimen tibi reputatur homicidii? Age ergo, vide ne forte sub praetextu obedientiae in quidpiam ei gravius inservieris. Non ignoras certe quis dixerit (nam mihi hinc fortasse non crederes) expedire scandala facientibus demergi potius in profundum maris. Cur hoc dixit, nisi quia significare voluit tam gravia illos in posterum manere tormenta, ut eis comparata mors temporalis, nec poenalis esse videatur, sed commoda? Quid ergo eum scandala facere juvisti? juvisti enim sequendo illum, obsequendo illi. Nonne utilius, juxta praemissam Veritatis sententiam, molam asinariam colle ejus suspenderes, et sic eum demergeres in profundum maris? Quid ergo? Tu ille obedientissimus discipulus, illum patrem et praeceptorem tuum, quem ne puncto quidem temporis, vel transverso, ut dicitur, pedis, a te, quandiu vixit, passus es elongari, ita ut in foveam quoque post eum, non quidem caecis, sed apertis more Balaam, oculis cadere non cunctatus sis: tune, inquam, illum tuo ita beandum putasti obsequio, ut morte illi graviorem exhibueris obedientiam? Revera nunc experior, quam vera sit illa sententia: Inimici hominis, domestici illius (Michaeae VII, 6). Sic itaque sentiens, sic conscius ipse tibi, nonne, si sapis, gemis; et si non desipis, tremis? Quippe cujus obedientia non meo, sed Veritatis judicio, pejor inventa est homicidio.
13. Si haec non ignoras, quomodo non trepidas? quod si trepidas, quomodo non emendare festinas? Alioquin qualem hinc ad illud tribunal terrificum conscientiam portas, ubi judex teste non indiget, ubi veritas discutit intentiones, ubi inquisitio culparum pertingit ad abdita cordis, ubi denique secretissimos recessus mentium divinus ille investigat intuitus, et ad subitum illum Solis justitiae fulgorem, animarum expansi sinus, cuncta sive bona, sive mala evomunt quae celabant? Ibi, frater Adam, facientes et consentientes pari poena punientur. Ibi fures et socii furum similem sunt excepturi sententiam. Ibi par subibunt judicium et qui lactant, et qui lactantur peccatores. Perge igitur jam dicere, Quid ad me? ille viderit. Tange picem, et dic: Non sum inquinatus ab ea. Absconde ignem in sinu tuo, et te jactato non aduri. Pone denique portionem tuam cum adulteris, nihilque tua interesse putato. Non ita Isaias: redarguit enim se ipsum, non solum quia ipse immundus, sed et quod socius sit immundorum: Quia, inquiens, vir pollutus labiis ego sum, et in medio populi immunda labia habentis ego habito. Redarguit autem se dixerim, non quia cum malis habitaret, sed quia mala non redarguerit. Sic namque ait: Vae mihi quia tacui! Quando vero ipse malum facere acquiesceret, quod se in aliis non redarguisse redarguit? Quid enim etiam David? nonne alieni contagione peccati se senserat inquinari posse, cum diceret, Cum hominibus operantibus iniquitatem, et non communicabo cum electis eorum? denique et orat dicens, Ab occultis meis munda me, Domine, et ab alienis parce servo tuo. Unde etiam malorum, quorum noluit participare malum, studuit declinare consortium. Ait etenim: Non sedi cum concilio vanitatis, et cum iniqua gerentibus non introibo. Huic versiculo concinit et subsequens: Odivi, inquit, ecclesiam malignantium, et cum impiis non sedebo. Audi denique et Sapientis consilium: Fili, mi, ait, si te lactaverint peccatores, ne acquiescas eis.
14. Tu ergo adversus haec atque alia in hunc modum innumera veritatis testimonia, putasti cuipiam obediendum? O odiosa perversitas! Obedientiae virtus quae semper militat veritati, adversus veritatem accingitur. Felicem ego dixerim fratris Henrici inobedientiam, cui cito resipiscenti ab errore, et revertenti ex itinere, talem contigit non experiri obedientiam. Quam potiorem nunc et dulciorem suae hujusmodi inobedientiae carpit, jamjamque degustat fructum, bonam habens conscientiam, quod caeteris collegis suis fraterna corda gravi scandalo concutientibus, ipse inter fratres in proposito et Ordine suo sine querela conversetur? Cujus ego, si optio detur, pigram potius elegerim inobedientiam eum ipsius conscientia, quam horum studiosam obedientiam cum scandalo. Aestimo enim, quia melius agit iste sic inobediens abbati, sed non charitati, servando unitatem in vinculo pacis; quam illi qui ita obtemperant homini uni, ut unum praeferant unitati. Fidenter et haec addiderim, expedire magis cuilibet sola unius hominis periclitari obedientia, quam reliquis omnibus pietatis bonis, et votis propriae professionis.
15. Siquidem, ut caetera taceam, duo praecipua nobis in monasterio conversantibus observanda traduntur; subjectio abbati, et stabilitas in loco: et ita observanda, quod neutrum praepediat alterum, nec alterutrum sibi praejudicent. Ut, verbi gratia, sic te stabilem in loco exhibeas, ut abbati subjici non contemnas: sic obedias subjectus abbati, ut stabilitatem non amittas. Porro, si detestaris in loco licet perseverantem, qui abbati forte subdi contemnit imperiis; miraris si reprehendimus obedientiam, quae vobis vestrum deserendi locum vel causa exstitit, vel occasio? praesertim cum in professione regulari sic promittatur stabilitas, ut de subjectione abbati exhibenda nulla penitus mentio fiat.
16. Sed quaeris forsitan, inquiens mihi: Quid ergo tu de stabilitate tua facis, quam apud Cistercium firmasti; et nunc alibi habitas? Ad quod respondeo: Ego quidem Cisterciensis monachus ibidem professus, ab abbate meo ubi nunc habito missus sum, sed missus in pace, missus sine scandalo, sine discordia, missus juxta consuetudinem et communem institutionem. Quandiu ergo in eadem qua missus sum, pace et concordia persevero, quandiu in unitate sto, communibus privata non praefero, quietus et subditus in quo positus sum permaneo, secura dico conscientia, quod promisi, firmiter teneo. Quomodo enim stabilitatis praevaricor votum, qui unanimitatis non rumpo vinculum, pacis firmamentum non desero? Et si corpus absentavit obedientia, sed spiritum semper ibidem praesentem tenet concors devotio, et in nullo dissimilis conversatio. Qua die autem (quod quidem Deus avertat) aliis incipiam vivere legibus, aliis moribus conversari, diversis diservire observantiis, adinvenire nova, extraneas usurpare consuetudines: transgressor professionis, promissam stabilitatem jam non me tenere confido. Dico ergo abbati per omnia obtemperandum, sed salva professione. Verum tu professus secundum Regulam sancti Benedicti, ubi promisisti obedientiam, promisisti et stabilitatem. Quod si obedieris quidem, stabilis autem non fueris; dum offendis in uno, factus es omnium reus: si omnium, et ipsius obedientiae.
17. Vides itaque pondus tuae obedentiae? Quomodo nempe stabilitatis transgressionem sufficit excusare, quae nec sibi quidem valet patrocinari? Idem notum est solemniter ac regulariter profiteri quemque in praesentia abbatis. In praesentia ergo tantum, non etiam ad nutum ipsius fit cujusque professio. Testis proinde adhibetur abbas, non dictator professionis; adjutor, non fraudator adimpletionis; vindex, non auctor praevaricationis. Quid igitur? Ponam in manu abbatis quod absque ulla exceptione coram Deo et sanctis ejus propria manu et ore firmavi, audiens ex Regula, si quando aliter fecero, a Deo me esse damnandum, quem irrideo? Si abbas meus, aut etiam angelus de coelo contraria jusserit, libere recusabo hujusmodi obedientiam, quae me transgressorem voti proprii, et pejerare faciat nomen Dei mei. Scio enim me juxta Scripturae veritatem ex ore meo vel condemnandum, vel justificandum; et quia os quod mentitur, occidit animam; et quod Deo veraciter canitur, Perdes omnes qui loquuntur mendacium; et quia unusquisque onus suum portabit, et unusquisque pro se rationem reddet. Alioquin qua fronte psallam mentiens in conspectu Dei et angelorum illud de Psalmo: Reddam tibi vota mea, quae distinxerunt labia mea? Viderit denique abbas meus, quid sibi faciendum putet de eo quod ex Regula ad ipsum specialiter dirigitur, « Ut praesentem regulam in omnibus conservet: » et item, quod universaliter praecipitur, et nemo excipitur, « Ut omnes » scilicet « per omnia magistram sequantur regulam; nec ab ea temere devietur a quoquam. » Ego sic ipsum sequi decrevi semper et ubique magistrum, ut nequaquam a Regulae, quam teste ipso juravi et statui custodire, deviem magisterio.
18. Occurramus breviter quaestioni, quae a latere nobis surgere posse videtur, et sic jam nimis longam finiamus epistolam. Videor nempe contraria loqui rei quam facio. Quaeri etenim a me potest, si hos damno, qui abbatis sui non solum consensu, sed et jussu suum monasterium deseruerunt, quo pacto illos et recipiam, et retineam, qui de aliis monateriis, fracto stabilitatis voto, et contempto seniorum imperio, ad nostrum Ordinem veniunt. Ad quod quidem brevis responsio, sed periculosa. Vereor namque displicere quibusdam quod dicturus sum. Caeterum mihi magis verendum puto, ne tacendo veritatem, illum versiculum non veraciter cantem: Justitiam tuam non abscondi in corde meo: veritatem tuam et salutare tuum dixi. Hac ergo illos ratione suscipimus, quoniam non putamus esse malum, si vota labiorum suorum, quae in locis suis potuerunt quidem promittere, sed nequaquam persolvere; Deo qui ubique est, ubicumque poterunt, reddant; et solius ruptae stabilitatis damna reliquorum regularium praeceptorum integra observatione compensent. Si cui displicet hoc, et murmurat adversus hominem quaerentem salutem suam; respondebit pro eo salutis Auctor: Nonne oculus tuus nequam est, quia ille bonus? O quisquis es qui saluti invides alienae, parcito vel tuae. An nescis quod invidia diaboli intravit mors in orbem terrarum. Attende itaque tibi. Si enim ubi invidia, ibi mors; profecto non potest simul et invidere, et vivere. Quid molestus es fratri tuo, quoniam satagit quemadmodum quae processerunt de labiis suis, non faciat irrita? Si quaerat homo, ubi et quomodo persolvat quod pollicitus est Deo; quid tu perdis? Fortassis si aliquantae pecuniae tu eum debitorem teneres, circuire cogeres mare et aridam, donec usque ad novissimum quadrantem debitum redderet universum. Quid igitur meruit de te Deus tuus, quoniam non vis ut et ipse a suo quod suum est, debitore recipiat? Imo uni invidens, duos tibi reddis infensos: dum et dominum servi obsequio, et domini gratia servum fraudare conaris. Tu quare illum potius non imitaris, et ipse videlicet persolvendo quod debes? Putasne et tuum non requiretur debitum? An potius propter hoc magis irritas impie Deum, quia dicis in corde tuo, Non requiret?
19. Quid inquis? omnes ergo damnas qui similiter non faciunt? Non: sed audi quid et de ipsis sentiam; et noli frustra calumniari. Quid me vis odiosum facere multis millibus sanctorum, qui sub nostra professione non nostro conversantes more, tamen aut sancte vivunt, aut beate defuncti sunt? Non ignoro quod reliquerit sibi Deus septem millia virorum, qui non curvaverunt genua sua ante Baal. Audi ergo, aemule; calumniator, ausculta. Dixi cur de aliis monasteriis ad nostra venientes, recipiendos censuerim. Nunquid non venientes damnavi? Excuso illos, non istos accuso. Soli sunt invidi, quos excusare nec volo, nec valeo. Quibus exceptis, si quis caeterorum ad Regulae cupiat transire puritatem, sed propter scandalum non audeat, aut certe etiam ob certam corporis infirmitatem; puto quia non peccat, dum tamen in suo studeat loco sobrie, et juste, et pie conversari. Nam si qua ex more monasterii minus forte districte, quam Regula constituisse videtur, observare compellitur; excusabit hoc forsitan aut illa charitas, qua cunctatur migrare ad melius propter scandalum, juxta illud, Charitas operit multitudinem peccatorum; aut illa humilitas, qua propriae conscius infirmitatis se reputat imperfectum: siquidem et de ipsa scriptum est: Deus humilibus dat gratiam.
20. Multa quidem tibi, charissime, locutus sum, cum multis opus non habeas; quippe cui sit et ingenium velox ad intelligendum quod dicitur, et voluntas agilis ad eligendum quod utiliter suadetur, sed licet specialiter quidem ad te, non tamen tam multa propter te scribenda putavi. Haec itaque, quibus Deus providit fore necessaria. Te autem, ut meum jam olim familiarissimum, paucis et cum omni fiducia moneo, ne jam diutius animas desiderantium te, in tuae quidem animae horrendum periculum, tui exspectatione suspendas. En tua eorumque (ni fallor) qui tecum sunt, et mors, et vita in manu tua est. Arbitramur enim quidquid feceris tu aut volueris, illos esse facturos. Alioquin aperte denuntia illis, quia juxta omnium abbatum nostrorum non contemnendam sententiam, quae merito processit in vos: Qui redierint, vivent; qui renuerint, morientur.