Saint Bruno
First Point
While in the world, Saint Bruno was a learned teacher who taught theology at the University of Paris and later in Reims, where he was also a canon. In the discharge of his duties in both these places, he won general approval by his wise conduct as well as by his profound learning. He also maintained a seriousness that earned him the respect of all. Piety by itself is ordinarily useful only for the people who possess it, but when learning is united with piety, it makes for a great person very useful to the Church. Such was Saint Bruno, at once a burning and a shining light:1 burning, because of his love for God, and shining, because of the excellent lessons he gave to others. You must try to share the interior and exterior graces of this great saint. You will share his interior graces if you procure the piety appropriate to your state, by vigilance over self, by your good works, and by your prayers. You will share his external graces, as far as they are part of your duty, if you are dedicated to knowing thoroughly the Christian doctrine that you have to teach to your students and if you work to inspire them with piety through your sound teaching. Be diligent, then, to acquire both of these graces.
Second Point
Saint Bruno was not satisfied with the piety he had acquired in the clerical state, solid though it was. Because grace was urging him on to something more perfect still, he engaged six other people with whom he associated to withdraw from the world with him. Together they went to live in a wild desert spot, where they led an angelic life. In the peace of solitude, unknown to the world and thinking only of their sins and of the means to live a holy life, people find God and strive to please him. On the one hand, there is nothing to distract them from God, and, on the other hand, there is nothing that does not encourage them to do all they can to please him. They are indifferent toward everything that concerns this life; they are no longer preoccupied about their bodies or seeking after all the comforts of life, for they have quit the world to get rid of all that. Such was the practice of Saint Bruno and his associates, who were able to say, with Saint Jerome, that cities are as disagreeable to them as a prison and that solitude is for them a paradise. You have quit the world as much as Saint Bruno did, although you are not in as profound and severe a solitude. But have you truly renounced the world? Do you no longer think of it or of your relatives? Are you truly disgusted with the world, because of the type of life you led there and the poor service you gave God? You must without doubt consider that you are blessed to have left it.
Third Point
Saint Bruno and his associates, having settled down in their desert, which is now called the Grande Chartreuse, together and by common consent chose three very sure means to go to God: seclusion for the rest of their life, almost continual prayer, and mortification in everything. United, they used these means for the rest of their life in order to labor effectively at their sanctification. What usually leads religious astray is the frequent contact they have with the world, because this withdraws them from the union they ought to have with God. God and the world, the Spirit of God and the spirit of the world, cannot exist together,2 as Jesus Christ says in the holy Gospel. This is why, he adds, when we have the one, we cease to have the other. Take, then, your steps in this matter, and do not reattach your affection to what you have quit. Prayer draws down the grace of God and keeps temptation away; it is also by prayer that God becomes our strength against the devil. You need to use all these means to be strengthened in your state, because left to yourself, you are nothing but weakness. So take care not to neglect prayer, which is so necessary to maintain you in piety and to grow in it. Mortification subdues the body and makes it less susceptible to temptation. You must, then, use it every day as a shield against the devil. If you cannot practice these three things as constantly as Saint Bruno did, do so at least with as much fidelity and fervor.
Historical Context
Bruno (ca. 1035–1101) was born in Cologne and studied in Reims, becoming successively a canon of each cathedral. His desire for solitude led him to found a monastery, near Grenoble, in the Carthusian mountains, which became the famous Grande Chartreuse. Called to Rome by the Pope, he eventually was allowed to retire to solitude again. He founded another Carthusian monastery, in Calabria, southern Italy, where he died.
Scripture Citation
- Jn 5:35
- Mt 6:24