Aelred

Aelred’s Chapter Discourses 32 & 51

I was surprised to see that Aelred’s Discourse 32 had been selected for us to read together as part of our Cistercian Mentors -- surprised because it was one I liked least on my first reading years ago. Up until now, I never really warmed to it. It appears here, thrown down before me: a discourse for February 2, the Purification of Mary -- and Mary is not even mentioned until the end! What a way to organize a discourse! It seems cobbled together with two distinct sections, one focused on parts of the Temple as described in Ezekiel (Ezekiel?) and a trifurcated meditation on Christ as Redeemer, Rewarder and Creator. It doesn’t flow. It sits there. Or, so it seemed to me.

Discourse 51, on the other hand, also written for February 2, has, for me, an almost bewitching flow, a captivating development of affective ardor. In the onrushing movement of his description of Simeon, Aelred gives body to his definition of affectus: “An affective impulse is a certain spontaneous inclination of the spirit toward someone, accompanied by love. This spiritual inclination comes sometimes to the soul against a person’s will, while reason resists it with all its strength. However, it incites the will and reason to consent to it, and thus the affective impulse is transformed to love.” What could be better than to have Aelred put before us a living example of this interior transformation!

Luckily for my appreciation of Discourse 32, over the years I came upon Mary Carruthers’ scholarship on memory, including her look at architectural structures as guides to memory. I began to get a sense that Aelred may be using familiar scriptural texts as foundational outlines for his real point -- usually, some teaching on monastic life. He is not developing a reasonable argument, but is proposing some striking associations to help his listeners (us and our antecedent brothers) remember something important about living monastic life. For instance, his discourse 27 for All Saints seemed to be a wild aligning of lists of seven: seven days of creation, seven beatitudes, and seven gifts of the spirit, in which any interrelationships appeared forced and unconvincing. But, on subsequent readings, considering these three lists as familiar to the listeners, I began to wonder whether Aelred was providing three optional ways to keep track of the monastic virtues that he really wanted his monks to keep in mind.

Aelred is not organizing his discourse in the neatly linear ways familiar and congenial to us; he seems to be marshaling familiar texts in order to lay down resonant paths leading to his teaching on monastic life.

Discourses 32 and 51 are both for February 2, one for the Purification of Mary and one for the Presentation of the Lord. This feast is rich in names and associations, bringing Our Lord and His Blessed Mother to center stage, with intriguing support from Simeon and Anna. Over the centuries and through various languages and the calendars of diverse churches and ecclesial communities, the feast has been called by different names. My favorite is the Meeting of the Lord. This seems to pull threads together: all of us are drawn, along with Simeon and Anna, to meet and bless the Lord. 

With this in mind, Discourse 32 suddenly takes fire. It is quietly organized to draw us into that interior chamber, beautifully prepared, where we will meet intimately with Our Lord. There He comes to be with each of us, hidden, in secret, intimately.

To present Discourse 32 to our four juniors, I also gave them a copy of Discourse 51; I presented a bit of Mary Carruthers on mnemonic architecture; we shared some of our responses and we ended by expressing four varied responses. Reading these four responses, each revealing something of the voice and manner of my brothers, has deepened and invigorated my own understanding and affection for Discourse 32. I am grateful for the opportunity that Cistercian Mentors presented us to grow in our understanding of Aelred as we draw closer to our meeting with Our Lord.

Br Cassian Russell, Conyers 

The Way of Love                                             

                                                  Blessed be the Lord

                                    Who has shown me wondrous love

                                    And been for me a city most secure. 

                                                          Ps. 31, 22

  In Aelred’s Discourse 32, he speaks about discernment, watchfulness and the fear of the Lord, this last one in regard to the necessity “that we regard the working of our salvation with fear and trembling, with great care and attention” (D32 # 8).

   I tend to connect closely the fear of the Lord with the love of God. For that reason, I keep on view a distinction taught me by a senior monk this past January, namely, “that reverence and familiarity are two different words.” The understanding of the differences of these two concepts has helped me to grasp better the sense of the following description: the fear of the Lord is more a humble attitude of reverential love and awe for our almighty and merciful Creator, rather than being afraid of Him. I am able to articulate that statement after profiting from discussions in our community, from a Sunday chapter talk, and from my personal lectio.

   I find it practical to use this method, of comparing the meaning of two or more words, in a wider spectrum. I use this method in those moments when I find myself stuck and unable to make any sense of ambiguous situations. This method helps by bringing the possibility of finding new ways of approaching the situation from new points of view. I am also reminded of the Benedictine notion of moderation and balance that permeates our Cistercian spirituality. 

   Therefore, in my own journey of love, I really need to remain in a greater intimacy with the Lord. I need to keep more vigilance on both His presence and my vulnerabilities. Consequently, with God’s favor, I think that I would be able to dispose myself to please the Lord with a grateful response to His Love, and at the same time, by loving Him who never ceases in loving me.

   Given the fact that this way of love is not only about me, but it is a relationship between the Lord and my soul, it sounds better to me to say “Our Way of Love”.  For me to love God is translated into the fulfillment of His will, and that includes also loving my brothers. Here again is appropriate to use the plural instead of the singular. We believe in a Trinitarian God, and we also are called to love in a Trinitarian way.  For me this communal love is conformed by the love of the Lord, the love of ourselves, and the love of our brothers and sisters. 

   I can picture the exercise of virtues as different stations in our way of love.  I see the virtues as small sparks that come to us through the source of divine light which operates in us in the person of the Holy Spirit. I like to think of those sparks as if they were lamps that help us to walk trough the path of love, yet a road on which there is darkness too. Using my imagination I can consider the virtues as small but powerful lights that can facilitate our pilgrimage toward our good Lord. He is himself the Light and Love that only can fill the deepest desire of completion in me, but in us.  

   For me the ongoing internalization of obedience takes place, as a result of the dual dynamic which is the Love of God for me, and my love for Him. I see that to obey implies also having to trust God trough the person or superior from whom we receive a command. It also means to me that by obeying we have the possibility of being confident with that brother or sister who has the responsibility of leading us. Then I realized that generosity is another virtue that it is present in the act of accepting and fulfilling our responsibilities. So, obedience and fraternal charity are two virtues that are familiar to our Cistercian patrimony. In that context, in my opinion, they go hand with hand. 

   I am not always coherent with the ideals of my vocation. Acedia, procrastination and laziness, are enemies that “rounds around ‘my inner building’, like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour”. (See 1 Peter 5, 8) However, in the secret chamber of that edifice, Jesus is at work in the person of Our Constant Friend! Thus, I have the best remedy. O Holy Spirit of God, flaming and healing love, come always to rescue me!

One of the short responsories that we use for Vigils goes as follow: “V. Give discernment, that I may observe your law. (Ps 119,125) and R. And keep it with all my heart. 

(Ps 119,69b)” It seems to me that this bit of Scripture expresses well the bondage between obedience as fidelity to our Loving Lord, and the free embrace of our heart for His will, because of His Love for us. Furthermore, I must say that without missing the primordial principle of obedience to the supreme authority of God as our Creator, yet, as Christians we keep His precepts fundamentally out of Charity.

    I thank the Lord for everything in my life, but appropriately now for the grace of being able to read and to reflect on Sermon 32 of our blessed Aelred. God willing, I will be able to keep my personal struggles in “the outer court” of my soul. In the same way, I will maintain my core chamber somehow prepared to welcome Jesus with affection of heart.  

Br Emilio Garcia, Conyers

Aelred’s Discourse 32 depicts a soul which resembles a medieval castle, replete with watchtower. Guests vie for admittance to a sumptuous wedding banquet. The arrival of Christ as the Bridegroom is eagerly anticipated. The soul is the bride who Aelred exhorts to “adorn your chamber”—the heart—with virtue, to prepare an appropriate dwelling for the fullness of Christ’s love: his sweetness and loving kisses and embraces. 

In order to do this, one must be vigilantly watchful to circumscribe the entrance of afflictive thoughts, passions (logismos), and idols. These elements of temptation, evil, and corruption lead to sin and must be restricted from passing into the consciousness of the soul and, thereby, disrupt the wedding feast and contaminate the wedding chamber of the heart. Christ is returning and one must maintain the heart as a pure and worthy vessel for His love.

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 “… the way we know that he remains in us is

                        from the Spirit that he gave us.”   —1 John 3:24

What does my soul look like? Whereas Aelred anticipates Christ’s return, my schema acknowledges God’s continued presence within me through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, Christ’s gift in baptism. The Spirit infuses my soul with grace and a desire for goodness, the affectus of love. Despite my propensity to sin, the Holy Spirit grants me its wisdom, guidance, and enlightenment in my heart and mind to discern the quality of my thoughts and guard against idols. 

Not as grand as that envisioned by Aelred, my square, three-tiered structure consists of a two-storey stepped base, topped by a clear, faceted dome. The dark, expansive foundation houses memories, afflictions (guilt, shame, and fear), and sinful temptation, as well as goodness, charity, and compassion. A wide staircase ascends to the second level, a square space, smaller than the foundation, which is illuminated by a gallery of windows. The windows, of ever-changing size and opacity, animate the empty space with a cacophony of pulsating light. This is the domain of the everyday and practical, the innocuous considerations of the soul’s existence, besieged by the intrusion of “guests” from the foundation below and the outside world. 

A narrower staircase ascends to a mezzanine level; this checkpoint, the counterpart to Aelred’s vestibule, is the seat of judgment where discernment and deliberation occur. Conscience, informed by Wisdom, presides here and maintains equanimity by restricting or admitting thoughts into higher consciousness. Virtuous thoughts of kindness, compassion, charity, goodness, beneficence, righteousness, and love are rendered immediate admission, ascending by elevator into the faceted glass dome above. This transparent chamber of the heart is the domain of the Holy Spirit who dwells within all the baptized. Purified by the grace of the Holy Spirit, the heart of my soul awaits, in joyful hope, the blinding, magnificent refulgence of Christ’s love and glory. 

Br. Nathanael Felarca, Conyers

The Chamber of the Heart

The Indwelling of my Lord

“Happy are they who so construct and adorn this building in their souls that our Lord wishes to dwell in it.” 

Aelred has been a fabulous life-coach for me these past few months.  He has heightened my awareness of the subtle realities of the inner life—I have inner chambers!  Yes, what a powerful tool it is, this conceptual grasp of the mechanics of my psycho-spiritual processes.  But beyond being made more keenly aware of how my mind and heart take in and process the world, I am cheered on to be intentional about “adorning” my inner chamber, not for me, but for the Lord.  This is unique.  This goes beyond the scope of all the modern, market-place spiritual teachings that can be found and practiced today.  Aelred’s teaching does more than teach one how to have inner peace. He does more than teach me how to clean-up my inner world.  He teaches me how to set up a table, a table for two, and he gives me hope that my desire for intimate companionship will be fulfilled by the indwelling of my Lord.

A Welcoming Place for Jesus

A warm welcome is wonderful indeed!  Aelred’s prominent theme for us in this discourse is “adorn your chamber.”  He urges us to imitate Martha’s generous hospitality and prepare the inner chamber of our heart as a welcoming place for Jesus.

Yes, a warm welcoming place for Jesus is wonderful – both for us and for him.  There are times when I am prepared for Him – fresh flowers are on the table, hot tea and fresh cookies are ready, everything is tidy and clean, and sunlight is even pouring through the curtain-draped windows.  I wait with a smile by the entrance in a cozy chair.  Yes, and sometimes he comes.

I admit, though, that sometimes the flowers fade and the tea gets cold.  The cookies get stale, the sun goes down and He still hasn’t come.  My smile fades, and so do I.  Hospitality is not always easy, and preparing a warm welcome for Jesus at certain times can be a challenge, too.  When I find myself in an unpleasant place interiorly, I do not want to be hospitable to anyone.

At such times, when my inner chamber is dark and cold, I find I am unwelcoming and unwilling to be welcoming.  I mutter in my grumpiness that I need my space and some time to be alone.  I have walked the other way and closed the door behind me and sat with my miserable self.  In my heart, this choice feels terrible.  Part of me wants to turn my sad self around and open my heart to Him because it could only make my situation better.  Yet, sometimes, I still hesitate.  

I am grateful that even during these times when I do not want to change (or seem to be unable to change)  and I am inhospitable to Jesus, in His mercy, He still wants my conversion and waits.  He is there, searching outside my chamber, “gazing through the windows, peering through the lattices” (Sg. 2:9) to see what I shall do.  He speaks and encourages me, “Arise, my beloved, my beautiful one and come” (Sg 2:10).  How can I resist?

I pray for the grace to always be ready and welcoming in my inner chamber. Nothing could be more important, especially for one whose life is dedicated entirely to God.  How could I be unwelcoming to Him?  I pray for the grace to do this necessary work tirelessly and to my heart and mind ready everyday so as to truly have a warm place of welcome for Him to come and take his rest. 

Sr. Francesca Molino, Wrentham 

Attachment to Christ

My answer is Yes, to Aelred’s sermon.  Only Jesus matters, but getting there is another story.   I want only Jesus to matter, and I‘ve discovered that I need a number of things to sustain this focus on Jesus alone.  Of course, as a Trappist monk, the Divine Office, Mass and the Word are primary in keeping my focus on Jesus and my life in Him.  

In the last couple of months, the Abbot has given me several opportunities to do Spiritual Direction with retreatants and other who ask for direction.  This has helped me so much to keep the focus on Christ.  Journeying with another, speaking about our life with God is a blessing that fills my heart and keeps my attention on God more deeply.  Also, since I have these directees, I pray for them and that too is a practical influence to keep me focused.  

I resonate so much with Aelred.  His description of all the very human realities that take us away from Christ, move us to self and selfishness is so much part of my experience too.    

I like “attachment” as the translation of Affectus.  This images for me Christ becoming attached to my heart.  This is surely what I desire, my total attachment to Christ.  He comes in prayer, in true spiritual conversation, in the singing of the psalms, in our desire for Him.  So you can experience His coming if only for a few moments, but that delights you, makes your day. Often it is when you least expect it, his presence bursts in on you and you give thanks with a “wow.”  

Holding on to that grace and building your day upon it would surely be the gift to embrace.  But how often the experience passes and never takes root for long.  Aelred quotes Matthew 24: 42 – Stay awake!  If only one could at all times truly be awake to all the ways Christ presents himself throughout the day.  

Living in community is a great gift in this regard.  Christ is coming to us all the time in each brother or sister.  There is only to respond with love, with patience, with acceptance with compassion or perhaps with a prayer for that person who is touching your life in some way. Can we seize the moment and really see the encounter with Christ happening before us.  One thing for sure, I’m aware of my many failures at this.  Often, it’s only on reflection that I see the opportunity I missed and how I messed up.  If only I responded more lovingly.  

St. Teresa of Avila’s Interior Castle comes to mind here, it’s so similar to Aelred’s  sermon. Of course, she may have had access to it in her library.  Building the spiritual edifice of the soul is like the rooms in the castle, both are all about having the proper dispositions and virtues to live in Christ and with Christ in the fullness of life with God. 

All the temptations Aelred writes about are so real aren’t they.  They can so easily take over the delights we have in the Lord.  Indeed the will must be in charge and at the first inkling of thought, of temptation, and of intrusions of any kind, before it has a hold on you, you must move away from it.   

Pray that your attachment is to Christ and not the thoughts and feelings that come from these temptations.   The virtue one seeks here to make it all work and to move to the deeper attachment to Christ, I believe, is surrender to love, a true surrender of the will to God alone.  Then there is trust, to really trust the word of God, to trust God’s desire for you, His promise of love for you.  Recognize your powerlessness and utter dependence on God.   God is love and he who abides in love abides in God and God in him.  

Fr. Joseph Tedesco, OCSO